Words That Dont Work In Ads
photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography
Very good reminder here about the way words get diluted, and then useless. In my early days in the PC industry all software was supposedly “user friendly.” And that phrase ended up mocking, humorous, a caricature of hype.
I read a recent post by Tim Berry that listed five words that just don’t work in ads anymore today that i had to agree with fully. Quality, Value, Service and Caring are the first four words that were mentioned as dead words to use. When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense on how these words wouldn’t work.
Everyone has their own idea in their heads of value, quality, service and caring, so what you may think fits these four words someone else may not agree with you.
The final word mentioned is Integrity, and with a point blank reason, either you have integrity or you don’t. Either your business is well known as a trusted company or it isn’t. There’s no in between with this word, and advertising in an ad that you have this even when you don’t will not make it come true.
Boyd Blackwood on June 29th, 2009 12:35 pm
I’d like to propose adding “solution” to the list. A few years ago, when I was an ad agency creative director, everyone wanted to use that word as the descriptor of what they offered. (”Your business needs solution”) I’m still seeing it way too much. It’s as non-descriptive as “quality.”
Jaclyn on June 29th, 2009 1:27 pm
Very good point…thank you for that addition Boyd, great suggestion.
RedHotFranchises on June 30th, 2009 7:11 am
The majority of all advertisements are just hype and false advertisement that take advantage of people’s deepest vulnerabilities, Cheery and pithy phrases, supposedly summing up the chewy goodness of the company or the product, disposable words carefully crafted to leave a positive impression in your mind. A A huge industry is devoted to finding and propagating these bits of fantasy, that taps into the subconscious.
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