I agree with the guy who blogs at copyranter: I hate when advertisers make up words. Erudite as it may sound, I think it diminishes the quality of our language.
In this billboard by the Leo Burnett Company, McDonald's is now claiming that your beverage is an accessory.
"Drinkcessorize!"
Really?
Sure, fashion is part of our self expression, our self definition, and our cultural interaction. It's why people proudly wear merchandise with prominent brand logos, why they drive the cars they do, why one is either a Mac or PC user (mostly Mac, I'd say...), and why we share the music we do. And that's all good. Anything can be fashion. Even beverages. At its core, that's a lot of what Starbucks is all about. It's a badge, a token of one's self. That's why they (and most smart marketers) protect their trademark so aggressively. That's totally fine by me.
But, jeez, don't make up stupid words. It's already done too much. As comedian Hal Sparks notes, "unsweetened" is a made up term. "I want a plain iced tea." "You mean 'unsweetended'?" "No, I mean plain! What kind of person would sweeten a beverage and then go through a process to take the sweetener out of it? It makes no sense!"
Yeah, maybe I should let it go. But it still bugs me.
[cross-posted at J646Overtime, my course blog]
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