As juvenile as that is, I was really pleased to find out that today, while locking up the interactive (presumably for some retooling) they acknowledged the act of vandalism with excellent British aplomb:
Excellent work!
An industry look at social issues in advertising and media
Showing posts with label Profanity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Profanity. Show all posts
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Benadryl interactive gets trolled, brand reacts like a boss
Benadryl in the UK recently launched an interesting interactive tool that invited users to report "pollen hotspots", allowing their site to crowdsource reports of heightened allergic sensitivity. Which was a great idea, until someone who the Drum describes as having "a little too much time on their hands" got crude with it:
Friday, August 3, 2012
Friday, December 16, 2011
F'd Ad Fridays: Dirty Sign Language PSAs
It's well-known that the first thing anyone learns about a new language is how to curse.
I guess it's the same with American Sign Language. "Dirty Signs with Kristin" is a hilarious YouTube Channel in which the super cute hostess teaches us the ASL versions of phrases such as:
See the rest here.
Tip via Buzzfeed.
I guess it's the same with American Sign Language. "Dirty Signs with Kristin" is a hilarious YouTube Channel in which the super cute hostess teaches us the ASL versions of phrases such as:
See the rest here.
Tip via Buzzfeed.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Talking dolls have some choice words for Christmas shoppers
The ridiculously overpriced "You & Me Interactive Triplet Dolls" set, sold at Toys R Us this Christmas season, created by LearnRight Toys, have something to say to American shoppers who are a little too obsessed with the mad rush for deals this "Black Friday":
Listen to the baby. Stop the craziness.
Via The Stir
Listen to the baby. Stop the craziness.
Via The Stir
Thursday, July 9, 2009
See You Next Tuesday, on Wikipedia?
Wikipedia is causing a stir today with its decision to feature on its main page an article about the traditional name for the main street of the red light district in medieval British cities: "Gropecunt Lane".
Now, I'm sure I've bruised eyeballs and shattered innocence by even dropping the C-Bomb in historical context, so to prevent further injury, all further references to the offensive word will use the obscure Chaucerian spelling "queynte".
As someone who deals with words in a professional manner, every day of his life, I look at our language's most offensive words with a mixture of curiosity and amusement. Why is queynte such a big deal? People use every possible crude euphemism for the male equivalent in work situations pretty frequently; when clients aren't around, the F-Bomb can be dropped without a second thought.
But queynte remains taboo, even in civilized boys-only discourse. Drop it in mixed company, and you're over the line. Drop in in front of my wife, and I sleep on the couch.
But will this ever change? Will popular culture and mass media defuse the C-Bomb?
As far as I'm aware, nobody dared say "Hell" on TV until 1967 when Captain dropped it at the end of "The City on the Edge of Forever". Twenty years later, the "Bitch" and "Bastard" frontier was crossed in primetime in a very special episode of Moonlighting. Since then, pretty much every other taboo word has made an appearance in the North American mainstream... except queynte.
The British islanders are a little less shy about it, as anyone who has seen movies like Trainspotting will attest. (If you click the link, be ready for a carpet-bombing of various naughty words.)
As a writer, I realize that words lose their power in overuse, or simply fall out of favour. The term "swive", once a shocker, is now meaningless. "Damn" was once written "D__n" because of its religious implications. (And, of course, "Taking the Lord's Name in Vain" is now as common as using "like" as a placeholder in casual speech.)
So, is the Wikipedia article the beginning of the end of queynte's power to shock and awe? And what new crudity will take its place?
My spellchecker and I will be keeping watch.
Now, I'm sure I've bruised eyeballs and shattered innocence by even dropping the C-Bomb in historical context, so to prevent further injury, all further references to the offensive word will use the obscure Chaucerian spelling "queynte".
As someone who deals with words in a professional manner, every day of his life, I look at our language's most offensive words with a mixture of curiosity and amusement. Why is queynte such a big deal? People use every possible crude euphemism for the male equivalent in work situations pretty frequently; when clients aren't around, the F-Bomb can be dropped without a second thought.
But queynte remains taboo, even in civilized boys-only discourse. Drop it in mixed company, and you're over the line. Drop in in front of my wife, and I sleep on the couch.
But will this ever change? Will popular culture and mass media defuse the C-Bomb?
As far as I'm aware, nobody dared say "Hell" on TV until 1967 when Captain dropped it at the end of "The City on the Edge of Forever". Twenty years later, the "Bitch" and "Bastard" frontier was crossed in primetime in a very special episode of Moonlighting. Since then, pretty much every other taboo word has made an appearance in the North American mainstream... except queynte.
The British islanders are a little less shy about it, as anyone who has seen movies like Trainspotting will attest. (If you click the link, be ready for a carpet-bombing of various naughty words.)
As a writer, I realize that words lose their power in overuse, or simply fall out of favour. The term "swive", once a shocker, is now meaningless. "Damn" was once written "D__n" because of its religious implications. (And, of course, "Taking the Lord's Name in Vain" is now as common as using "like" as a placeholder in casual speech.)
So, is the Wikipedia article the beginning of the end of queynte's power to shock and awe? And what new crudity will take its place?
My spellchecker and I will be keeping watch.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)