# Advertising words



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

:scold: Are you peeved by "advertising words"? I mean, "designer sunglasses"? Is that supposed to mean they're worth more? But in fact, are there any sunglasses that _aren't _designed?

How about "vintage wines"? Others?


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

My "favorite" is _technology_.

It's a meaningless word intended to make your product sound more "advanced" than the competition or previous versions of the same product.


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## quack (Oct 13, 2011)

Masterpiece, legendary, definitive, reference, historic, flawless, astonishing, phenomenal.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Products are no longer described as products or by name: they are _solutions_. Grrrr!


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## Guest (May 17, 2015)

Terms used by politicians and the media that report on them are just as bad. Without looking them up define:

-Single payer option
-Copay
-Coinsurance
-Pork barrel 
-Boondoggle (and how does it differ from pork barrel)
-Inside the beltway
-K Street project
-National deficit
-National debt
-Bully pulpit
-Unilateral
-Client state
-Donkey vote
-Fence-mending
-Appropriation
-Centrally planned economy


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

I dunno, I understand what "designer sunglasses" are. They are fancy sunglasses, often with a named designer, with the intent to look fashionable rather than just block the sun.

I don't have the patience to define all those political terms, but I could for most. Do we really not understand what National Debt and National Deficit are? (The latter is yearly, the former is cumulative).


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

brotagonist said:


> Products are no longer described as products or by name: they are _solutions_. Grrrr!


Heh heh. A few years back, in my working life, I got repeated phone calls from a guy in Seattle who wanted to interest me in his company's "solutions." Despite repeated queries, I was unable to determine just what these solutions were, or what problems they were intended to solve. More than passing strange! :lol:


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Mahlerian said:


> My "favorite" is _technology_.
> 
> It's a meaningless word intended to make your product sound more "advanced" than the competition or previous versions of the same product.


This carries through into product and model names. Focus groups have indicated that the letters "X" and "Z" are the most cutting edge. So you'll see a lot of that.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

KenOC said:


> Despite repeated queries, I was unable to determine just what these solutions were, or what problems they were intended to solve. More than passing strange! :lol:


Yup, that seems to be a marketing gambit. They present things as a solution. Solutions are essential to life. You have to have them to make things easier, better, etc. Except that nobody ever described a problem.


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

"Professional" is the buzzword for those middlemanagement numbskulls in schools, arts and health, well actually they are everywhere !


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

Mahlerian said:


> My "favorite" is _technology_.
> 
> It's a meaningless word intended to make your product sound more "advanced" than the competition or previous versions of the same product.


And especially when paired to "nano".... E.g. Toiletcleaner way more effective because of.....


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## Guest (May 17, 2015)

New and improved ...


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## Guest (May 17, 2015)

Family-size pack! Yes, it's a big, family-sized pack with _even less_ product inside !!!


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## Guest (May 17, 2015)

Bespoke solutions ...


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

0% Financing

Firstly, you're paying horrendously more by the month, than paying whatever it is off in full. Just haggle out the best price you can get for a cash sale and see the difference—and there's a lot of leeway in that 'rock bottom' price yet!

Secondly, these 'too good to be true' 0% deals are commonly offered on high-priced items that you can easily get by without and they tie you to debt for a long time to come—not such a great deal!


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Great, greater, greatest, especially when used indiscriminately on TC.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Employee Pricing



Better to pay cash and work out a _real_ deal!


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

'We pay the GST'*

They're camping in front of the doors! You'd better get over there now! Whoopee! It's only 5% off.

*Goods and Services Tax, Taxe sur les Produits et Services (TPS), Mehrwertsteuer (MWS), Value Added Tax (VAT), etc.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

BOGO (Buy One Get One...)

Bogus! It used to be 'buy one get one free' (that's 50% off!), but now it's 'buy one get one for 50% off'. You're only getting a full 25% off on both items, if the second item is priced as high as the first, otherwise you're saving less. It's not the deal it used to be and 25% is not worth getting very excited about... and you are forced to buy 2 pairs, 2 items, etc. You're better off to wait for a real sale, 30% and higher.


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

^^^^ BOGOF - of course, 'Bog Off' isn't very polite so we're supposed to be slightly shocked and therefore amused by this ploy


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

Perfect 

On TV adverts over here, almost everything is marketed as 'perfect' :scold: You can buy the 'perfect' holiday, the 'perfect' hotel room, the 'perfect' sandwich, the 'perfect' car insurance etc etc etc 

Heavens help those of us who live in the real world where perfection doesn't exist


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## pianississimo (Nov 24, 2014)

The ***** of marketing words is "freshness" Everything gives you EXTRA freshness - as if that is something that can be tested and objectively measured.
If I see anything with extra freshness advertised on it I avoid it. I don't want extra freshness! I'm fresh enough thankyou!!


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

^^^ a colleague who'd rowed for Oxford told an anecdote that when they delivered his commemorative paddle, the servant entered the breakfast room and announced: "Sir, there is a gentleman at the door with an oar!" to which his father had replied "Well, give the two of them ten shillings each to be quiet and tell them never to return or I shall summon the police!"


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Rebates! :scold: Here's a rebate story -- please be patient. I once bought a case of a dozen quarts of oil for the advertised $10 rebate. The cans were thick cardboard with metal tops and bottoms.

Turns out that each can had a small label that you had to fill out, individually. This would entail destroying all 12 cans at once, of course. And the cardboard was slick-surfaced and...black! The little labels were printed in white ink.

Now who has a pen that will write in white ink on a slick black surface? And is willing to consume 12 quarts of oil all at once?

I doubt the company had to honor many rebate requests, as it no doubt planned. I hate rebates in general, but that one has stayed firmly in memory.


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

Then charity/thrift store I used to work at here would display old furniture for sale. Instead of stating they were "antique" they would use the word "vintage", I guess in hopes it would bring in more sales. 

Some of the "vintage" items in that store were less than 10 years old in most cases.


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## Badinerie (May 3, 2008)

Digital. 
What the dickens is a Vacuum Cleaner with a Digital motor. Digital headphones!? The D word seems to be imaginatively combined with any amount of products in an attempt to make it more saleable!


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Nike's slogan "Just Do It" is awful.

It's like just do what?


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

My favorite meaningless buzzphrase: "Coke adds life."


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Albert7 said:


> Nike's slogan "Just Do It" is awful.
> 
> It's like just do what?


Whatever it is that you have been fearful of doing.


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

Beware: *the Russians are coming*! Talking about problems which are solutions - just keep repeating this endlessly and you're sure to end up in or close to the White House.


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## geralmar (Feb 15, 2013)

"Pre-owned" cars.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

This ad makes me cringe every single time I hear this:


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Netflix tells us that we can watch movies or TV shows "instantly," but last time I checked, an 100 minute movie still takes 100 minutes to get through, even if you stream it.


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

'fun-sized' as a synonym for 'small' when used for a chocolate bar etc

I tried that in another context and didn't get very far


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

"The Best of Bach" album cover.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Headphone Hermit said:


> 'fun-sized' as a synonym for 'small' when used for a chocolate bar etc
> 
> I tried that in another context and didn't get very far


I am absolutely _not _going to request a further explanation of that.


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## SarahNorthman (Nov 19, 2014)

Everyone should be against unsinkable.



KenOC said:


> I am absolutely _not _going to request a further explanation of that.


I don't think it takes much imagination to figure it out.



TxllxT said:


> Beware: *the Russians are coming*! Talking about problems which are solutions - just keep repeating this endlessly and you're sure to end up in or close to the White House.


What about "the British are coming! " talk about sewing confusion considering they were all British..... I believe I will stick to the regulars are coming history books.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

For me it isn't so much advertising words -- I don't watch TV and have learned to ignore internet ads -- but the language of the _business world_ sends my blood pressure skyrocketing!

"We are announcing the launch of an exciting new initiative," usually delivered in a monotone. Just come out and say you changed your mind. There is no shame in that. Quite the contrary.

"We are in receipt of . . ." You mean "you have?"

I cannot abide this entrenched subculture, and it seems the more letters a perpetrator likes to append to their signatures, the more of these murky meaningless catch phrases they employ.


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## Rehydration (Jun 25, 2013)

Hasn't anyone mentioned "all-natural" yet?
I mean, you can get people to buy your CLEARLY PROCESSED product if you advertise it as "all-natural". LIES!


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

"Grandma Kramer's for your family, lovingly made from all-natural substances in our vats in New Jersey..." :lol:


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## CBD (Nov 11, 2013)

What annoys me the most is the adjectives news sources use to advertise their stories. Shocking, chilling, unprecedented, selfless, senseless, etc. Also, their lazy cliches: caught on camera, good Samaritan, speaking out, breaking silence, etc. Add to that the ludicrous reporter voice, obligatory puns, data misrepresentation, story cherry-picking and irrelevance, implicit bias, and disproportionate storytelling as reasons I really dislike prominent news sources.

Note: I'm from the USA


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