March 4, 2008

Junior-Almost-But-Not-Quite-Super Tuesday

At least Huckabee will be done, right? Then again, he did say, "I have nothing else to do." Come on Obama... ______________________ Since I'm one of the grammar militants at work, I almost fell off my chair with this one: To The Coca-Cola Company, The slogan for Dasani mineral water contains an egregious error. The tag line is “Treat yourself well. Everyday.” The word “everyday” is an adjective that is used to describe things that are routine or ordinary. “Everyday concerns” or “everyday life” would be two examples. Your slogan should read: “Treat yourself well. Every day.” In this case “every” is an adjective modifying the noun “day.” This is a popular construction which is also used in such phrases as “every week,” “every time,” “every breath I take,” etc. [… ] Respectfully submitted, David Armstrong Thank you for contacting The Coca-Cola Company, Mr. Armstrong. We appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns regarding our new slogan for DASANI, “Treat yourself well. Everyday.” Advertising slogans aren’t always constrained by the traditional conventions of formal writing; compromises are quite often made to develop a more effective message. When forming the new slogan for DASANI, we considered both “Everyday” and “Every day.” After subjecting both versions to testing, we decided to use the more impactful adjective form, rather than the adjective-noun phrase. […] Joy Industry and Consumer Affairs The Coca-Cola Company Dear Joy, Thank you for your prompt and informative response to my email message. I do appreciate you taking the time. I must confess, however, that I am not completely satisfied with your answer. I fail to see how the adjective “everyday,” which has a completely different meaning than the phrase “every day,” is more “impactful.” (By the way, “impactful” is not listed as a word in any dictionary that I am aware of. Was this neologism spawned by the person who hatched your Dasani slogan?) You say you chose the “adjective form,” as if you were choosing between two versions of the same thing – but the similarity is purely superficial. Your slogan may as well read “Treat yourself well. Ordinary,” or “Treat yourself well. Commonplace,” because that is what it means, given the error. [… ] Are we then to assume that poor grammar and abuse of the English language make for more effective marketing? If this is the case I have a couple of suggestions for future slogans you may wish to consider: “Coke. Its the real thing.”“All ways Coca-Cola.”“Coke add’s life.” [… ] Best regards, David Armstrong Thank you for your reply. We truly appreciate your feedback regarding our slogan for DASANI, and I will share it with the appropriate management. As for the word “impactful,” this is simply the noun form of “impact” with the suffix “-ful” added to the end in order for it to be used as an adjective. Words with suffixes are typically not in the dictionary. Rich Robinson Advertising Specialist The Coca-Cola Company Dear Rich, It has been a few days since our email exchange and I have yet to hear from your executives. [… ] Your fine and reputable firm needs to act swiftly to repair this grievous attack on the English language, one which I have now seen plastered on the sides of buses, on billboards, and in numerous other public locations. Have you considered the effect of your nonsensical “Treat yourself well. Everyday” campaign on the nation’s schoolchildren? [… ] In closing, although I appreciate the creativity of your comments that “Words without suffixes are typically not in the dictionary,” I believe that if you research this further you will find that many words with suffixes are in fact in the dictionary, and that words that are not words are not. Warm regards, David Armstrong

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