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Channel: Language in advertising – Arnold Zwicky's Blog
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Tasty names

From my back files, this entertaining story in the MediaPost Marketing Daily on April 21st, “Haagen-Dazs Gelato Launch Uses ‘La Dolce Vita’ Theme” by Karlene Lukovitz, beginning: Häagen-Dazs – the ice...

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Annals of phraseology

From the NYT on the 10th, an obit by William Grimes, “Cal Worthington, Car Dealer With Manic Ads, Dies at 92″, beginning: Cal Worthington, a car dealer whose off-the-wall commercials, first broadcast...

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BearBoat

Freshly appearing at a local restaurant, BearBoat wines, from Sonoma. Entertaining name, with its /b/’s. And with cute labels, with this as a template: (#1) Particular instances have captions as well...

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serials

In the NYT on the 12th, an obit, “Robert Taylor, Who Put Hand Soap in a Bottle, Dies at 77″ by John Schwartz: Robert R. Taylor, a serial entrepreneur who popularized hand soap from a pump [Softsoap],...

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Bake and you shall receive

Passed on by Terry Bartlett on Facebook, this ad for Diamond Walnuts. The video: (10/3/13) You always want him to be more thoughtful and romantic. This Diamond Toasted Walnut Truffle recipe will make...

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and it floats!

(Advertising and the display of men’s bodies.) From Chris Ambidge, a set of six vintage ads for Ivory Soap (99 44/100 % Pure … It Floats), mostly featuring men or boys bathing in groups. The first has...

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It floats! (ch. 2)

Commenting on my Ivory Soap posting (“and it floats!”) yesterday, Ann Burlingham asks about the images of naked boys and men in these vintage ads: Do you or Chris [Ambidge, who sent me the images] have...

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Asgardian

In recent advertising news: from Adweek on the 11th, “Charmin Thinks Twice About Its ‘Asgard’ Joke, Even Though Twitter Loved It: Gone but not forgotten” by David Gianatasio: (Hat tip to Victor...

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Briefly noted: inversion

From an ad for the Teeter machines designed to stretch you out and make you feel better, a reference to the “benefits of inversion”. Inversion has multiple senses, including some in linguistics, but...

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Briefly noted: ad claims

The website says: Take Cold-EEZE® whenever you start to feel cold symptoms.
Our unique zinc gluconate formula releases zinc ions to fight your cold virus. Cold-EEZE® lozenges have been clinically...

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Cartoon retirement

Today’s Zippy: (#1) The characters pass on. On Bazooka Joe: Bazooka Joe is a comic strip character, featured on small comics included inside individually wrapped pieces of Bazooka bubblegum. He wears a...

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Cod loins

From Ellen Seebacher on Facebook, this puzzling ad:   (#1) Cod loins? Loin is an unusual body-part term. AHD2 on the word: the part of the body on both sides of the spine between the lowest (false)...

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Briefly noted: It’s not a razor

Heard, endlessly, on cable tv, an ad for a hair-removal system: It’s not a razor. It’s not a laser. It’s No-No. It’s also not a waxing treatment, but no doubt the razor / laser rhyme was hard to...

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Frivolity for Valentine’s

From Steven Levine, this remarkable advertising image: Elsie the Cow, in a maid’s apron and nothing else — yielding a racy image — offering a very substantial breakfast. Smiling and dancing. More on...

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The lure of trochaic tetrameter

A commercial for Cyvita is currently going the rounds. It promises Longer, stronger, and more frequent erections It begins with two rhyming trochees (SW SW), then branches out into two more complex...

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Lurid Easter food

Passed on from several sources (e.g. here), this 1957 ad “for the gayest Easter Eggs”: When this was posted on Facebook, I wrote there: Wish the text were easier to read. the photos are vividly...

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Startling image for Holy Week

In my e-mail this morning, an ad for gay porn from the Falcon / Raging Stallion Studios for Holy Week, with hot porn actor Adam Ramzi posing as Jesus (and the playful commercial slogan “It’s a Good...

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Three for the day (Easter)

Today’s crop of cartoons includes a Bizarro, a Zippy, and a Mother Goose and Grimm: (#1) (#2) (#3) In #1, the kid is obviously a cartoon character, while his parents are represented as what count as...

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The poetry of green tea

Among the many teas sold by Tazo (from South Seattle WA) are three green teas that my daughter got for me recently, to replenish my supplies. The company is into lush, poetic descriptions of its...

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Two cartoons from yesterday

From yesterday, a Luann passed on by David Craig on Facebook, and a Basic Instructions passed on by Scott  Meyer, also  on Facebook: (#1) (#2) On the wording of ads, and on aggressive humor (in this...

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