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Shed your inhibitions
Part of the latest ad campaign for Equinox Fitness, a guy wielding a Manneken Pis: (#1) On its website, the company assures us that “Equinox isn’t just a fitness club, it’s a temple of well-being.”...
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Stanford news: the Sunday NYT
Two Stanford linguistics stories in the Sunday (January 18th) New York Times: Tyler Schnoebelen at the American Dialect Society meetings, Will Leben on product naming. The Word of the Year. In the...
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Unintended ambiguity
Now appearing on many sites, this vintage (1936) promotional ad for the Willesden Electricity Dept. (in northwest London): The (presumably) intended reading is that it is anaphoric to work; ‘let...
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What would you do?
Today’s Mother Goose and Grimm: (#1) Without a piece of cultural background, this is just a silly story about a polar bear opening a bar in the Klondike. If you have that background, it’s a bit of...
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Two more morning names
Thursday’s memorable morning name was Mitzi Kapture (the actress), Friday’s was Piggly Wiggly (the supermarket). Mitzi Kapture. From Wikipedia: Mitzi Gaynor Donahue (born May 2, 1962, Yorba Linda,...
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Reuben and Rachel
On a report (from the 25th) on a recent Arby’s ad: Arby’s Reuben Gets a New “Rachel” Variant: Arby’s latest sandwich is the new, limited-time Turkey Rachel, which is being offered as a variant on their...
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Specialists in International
Slogan on the side of a DHL truck in Palo Alto: DHL — YOUR SPECIALISTS IN INTERNATIONAL SINCE 1969 The adjective international is serving as a noun here, conveying something like ‘international...
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Stan Freberg
In today’s NYT, an obit by Douglas Martin, “Stan Freberg, Madcap Adman and Satirist, Dies at 88″: Stan Freberg, a humorist whose sprawling imagination fueled a multifaceted career that included pretty...
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Magnum
Just went past me on television: an ad for Magnum Ice Cream Bars: (#1) (from the Magnum Ice Cream site; “Magnum Ice Cream Bars are made with creamy Ice Cream and Belgian Chocolate”). The bars are big...
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Annals of phallic reference: a real fireman’s nozzle
Caught in a tv commercial this morning, for the Mighty Blaster Fireman’s Nozzle (“as seen on TV”). From the copy: Mighty Blaster Fireman’s Nozzle is the first-ever household sprayer with the power and...
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Apologetic candy
On the tv this morning, a (very short) commercial that turned on the apology “Sorry I was eating a Milky Way”. It’s on this site, with an explanation of its content: A hairstylist, a rodeo clown and a...
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Morning: Great American Dream Machine
This morning’s name: the television show The Great American Dream Machine. Bonus: grades of olives and their names. From Wikipedia: The Great American Dream Machine was a weekly satirical variety...
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L’eggo my Eggo!
Recently I’ve been noticing an apparent uptick in “L’eggo my Eggo!” commercials on tv, after a period in which the slogan appeared but was not the focus of Eggo ads. My impression turns out to have...
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Flavor combos
Sonic Drive-Ins are currently advertising Master Blast flavor combos in a “Blast Scout” commercial featuring three of its ice cream plus mix-in desserts: Waffleberry Brownie. Strawberry Pucker Pie....
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Hatch NM
Today’s Zippy takes us to Hatch NM, which is famous for two things: green chiles and giant fiberglass figures: (#1) The two are packaged together in this remarkable artifact: (#2) The current Wikipedia...
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But wait!
(This would be an occasion to announce that an inventory of Mother Goose and Grimm postings, on Language Log and this blog, is now available as a Page “MGG cartoons” on this blog.) Today’s Mother Goose...
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Naming that company
Here’s a clip of an ad for the Wealthfront firm, with two friends playing with possible names for a company they’re thinking of creating. Text from Wealthfront: A man and his friend are knitting...
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Annals of advertising: patriotism, sex, and overwhelming mouthfuls of food
It burst recently (with actual fireworks) onto the American fast-food scene: the Most American Thickburger from Carl’s Jr. / Hardees: This clip doesn’t include the final tag, “Because America, that’s...
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Annals of advertising and poor taste
A recent tv ad for the candy Skittles lies, for me, somewhere between absurdly silliy and just plain creepy. The premise is that there’s an epidemic of Skittles pox, which manifests itself in an...
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An ebook
A cute pun and, with it, a use of the symbol @ in advertising: A book in the shape of the letter E, not an electronic book (eBook, e-Book, e-book, ebook). Plus the attention-grabbing L@@K, now used on...
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