The subtle problems of marketing

[jducoeur]

So here is this bottle of Perrier sitting on my desk. (My company supplies free soda for the employees as a perk, and one of the Architects requested, early on, that this include Perrier. So I drink that when the water bubbler is empty.) And for the dozenth time, the new bottle is giving me double-takes.

Y'see, they just switched over to plastic bottles, and as part of that, they splashed a big new slogan across it: "Now Portable!". The problem is, my brain looks at that slogan, parses it in the context of a liquid, elides the "r" right out of the middle of that slogan, and leaves me with a gut-level reaction of, "... as opposed to before, when it was poisonous."

Comments

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

On the other hand, the stupid wording has made you think about it considerably more than you would have otherwise, which means it's a sucess from a marketer's point of view.

I probably would have taken issue with the 'portability' thing, because clearly it was portable before.

I've eaten candy that said it was "the only 3D candy!"

[doubleplus.livejournal.com]

Yes! I have the same reaction every time I see it. Especially because of that whole Perrier benzene scandal a few years ago.