¡Es una ganga!

## Introduction

**¡Es una ganga!,** or "It's A Bargain!" in English, is a song about a shopkeeper who interacts with two customers, the Ganga Girls, who are interested in buying a red t-shirt. The video includes conversation that details how much the shirt costs, along with the Ganga Girls' opinion that the price is a bargain.

This song is meant to teach students on how to shop for things in Spanish, including the use of the verb costar (cuesta/cuestan), and expressions with "qué". The pop-up video teaches more, such as the use of "esa(s)" vs. "eso(s)", and vocabulary for clothing items. Therefore, although Spanish teachers have claimed that this song is either "too simple" or "too scary", the content is very useful and very applicable in the real world.

"A man encounters two very odd bargain hunters who take an interest in a simple, 5-dollar t-shirt."

## Details

Song: Es Una Ganga

Translation: It's a Bargain

Released: 2014

Singers: James Wooldridge (shopkeeper); Karen G (ganga girls)

Director: Jeremy A

Choreographer: Amy L

Designer: Carolyn R

Mixing/Mastering: Benjamin J

Difficulty: Level 1 (out of 4)

## Plot

The video starts off by the shopkeeper, played by Sr. Wooly himself, being very tired when keeping his shop. He is just about to close the shop. He walks through all the aisles of clothing--no one is there. He then puts a "closed" sign on the door, and locks the door while ringing a bell. That bell ring could have triggered something strange to happen, because the shopkeeper looks back and finds that the door has closed by itself. He looks all around the store, and then grabs a random shirt. He then notices that two girls with white hair and a lot of makeup are creeping behind him. As he approaches the bargainers, he is asked how much the shirt he is holding costs. He is frightened, just saying "hello, good evening" and later finally revealing that the t-shirt costs 5 dollars. The lights then turn off and flash, and Sr. Wooly is being chased by the shoppers as they say that "it's a bargain." This process repeats again, and the shopkeeper is being chased even more around the store by the bargainers. The shoppers do more absurd actions such as peeling a potato and messing with all clothing aisles in the shop. The shopkeeper later gets a headache and wakes up, noticing that the bargainers are now gone, and the shop is back to normal (completely silent). The shopkeeper later finds the bargainers right next to him, and after questioning them, the bargainers just leave the store as they say their line "it's a bargain" (notice that they did not buy the red t-shirt at all even though it was a bargain to them).

## Lyrics

* Spanish
* English

¿Cuánto cuesta esa camiseta?

Hola. Buenas noches.

¿Cuánto cuesta esa camiseta?

¿Esta camiseta?

Esa camiseta.

La camiseta cuesta cinco dólares.

¡Es una ganga! ¡Qué ganga!
¡Es una ganga! ¡Qué ganga!

¿Cuánto cuesta esa camiseta?

Cuesta cinco dólares.

¡Es una ganga! ¡Qué ganga!
¡Es una ganga! ¡Qué ganga! ...

How much does that t-shirt cost?

Hello. Good evening.

How much does that t-shirt cost?

This t-shirt?

That t-shirt.

The t-shirt costs five dollars.

It’s a bargain! What a bargain!
It’s a bargain! What a bargain!

How much does that t-shirt cost?

It costs five dollars.

It’s a bargain! What a bargain!
It’s a bargain! What a bargain! ...
## Trivia

* This video was filmed in a thrift store in Evanston, IL.
* The video contains a flashing lights warning at the beginning.
* Ringing the bell was necessary in order to establish the sound for later. Unfortunately, it proved to be the hardest shot of the night. After 25 takes, they finally got it.
* A baby doll is hidden in the video multiple times throughout.
* The original cut of this video had a different ending. The shoppers would walk away to the exit rather than just staying next to the shopkeeper at the end. Test audiences were evenly divided on the two endings.