It’s adwords run amok I tell you. I’m not talking Chillabration. I mean dual-purpose nouns acting as verbs, adjectives becoming nouns. It’s probably our fault anyway, what with the use of ‘creative.’ “The creatives are here to present the creative. Creatively.”The recent offenders that got me all kee-razy though?
- Slimfast and Find your slim. Adjective and subtle half-brand name as noun.
- Kraft and Kraft your sandwich. Half-something, half-brand name as noun.
- Haynes and Wait til we get our Haynes on you. Half-pun, half-brand name as noun.
- Old Navy and Get your Fash-on. Noun mashup as nicknoun mixed back in on its bad self.
- In addition to ‘getting,’ don’t forget about releasing your inner ‘anything.’ (fast, geek, etc.) Everyday adjectives and nouns as superhero noun.
Add your own suggestions people–I don’t wanna hog all the anger.
Tags: Old Navy, Haynes, Slimfast
3 comments:
This isn't really in a branding context, per se, but the one that makes my fillings hurt is "helm" (and I don't mean Jelly).
Esp. when used as a synonym for "direct" or, worse, "director." As in: "Bryan Singer helmed the new Superman movie/Helmer Bryan Singer's new Superman movie.."
Gaaahhh! I want to cut my own fingers off for just typing the examples.
Anyone using that in a non-maritime context, or as a verb in any context, should get 40 lashes with a Strunk & White's (Strunk & Whited?) and be hung from the yardarm.
That is all.
"Vee-Dub" has been killing me this past week. Not only can you not understand the guy when he says it, I don't get why Bogusky keeps going for these "frat-boy-trying-to-sound-street" phrases.
The Haggar print is a particularly egregious example, with all the faux working-class lingo in it.
All they do is make you cringe.
I'll try to google something up after I get back from krogering.
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