OT: D-I-Y Grammar: It's how you write it that matters

Tesco has issued an advert. for some Free-From (undesirable ingredients) Easter treats. Only, they actually wrote: "Free From Easter treats", which to me says that Easter with Tesco will be free of any Easter Treats. Not quite what they meant, but it's what they wrote.

Mistakes like that lead to chaos in engineering or computing.

My missis once caused confusion at a Screwfix counter over a misunderstanding of similar sounding words. She grows and shows vegetables and one of her fellow gardeners advised her on a technique to grow Leeks from seedlings in sleeves and the more rigid pipe insulation of adequate bore an easily obtained sleeve material so a click and collect order was placed. She was collecting the lengths and someone she knew happened to be behind and enquired what he lagging was for “for the Leeks “ she said at which point the assistant overhearing and trying to be helpful said “ excuse me but this product isn’t any good for leaks. The Missis not being on the same wavelength as the assistant she continued “Well I’ve been told by a friend it works fine and he won prizes for his Leeks. At that point the assistant just handed over the goods looking baffled.

GH

Well... The website

It's the norm with advertising. Anything goes.

It got your attention, so it achieved its purpose.

I used to work in a supermarket. The store was undergoing extending to become a hypermarket

There was a weekly staff poster announcing what new product ranges and aisles were goign to open.

One week I saw the annoucement of:

New! Glutton Free aisle opening on Monday 1st May

I had visions of the aisle being a few centimetres wide......

But it did not encourage me to buy any of the stuff advertised, if anything, the opposite.

Nice one. I am reminded of the saying, concerning these people: "And they walk amongst us".

I don't think it makes it clear at all. Choices of what to capitalise (and to place capitals within 'words') seems entirely random these days

I feel the same if an ad has people dancing, but I usually record most stuff to fast-forward the ads, which generally last 4 minutes, and voice control sorts that out for me.

This was a static image, so no dancing involved, Thankfully.

There's no such thing as bad advertising. Even after things have gone drastically wrong the marketing men will tell you that the name will be remembered.

I think I will remember the name 'Tesco' with or without this particular spot of advertising. And if they can't get basic grammar right, what else might they be getting wrong?

The name may be remembered,but if it no longer exists, what's the point? How many of these have you heard of?

Inverted commas around the brand name would definitely help in prose, though whether that is a good idea in an advertising strapline is another matter.

Ratner? I do remember that name.

Recently seen in Leftpondia on the aisle marker sign:

"Organic Water"

Thomas "I sure hope not" Prufer

:-)

What these fools dont understand is that all food is organic. If it weren't, eating it would do us no good.

True, but doesn't "organic" as used on food labels have a specific definition different from just the basic "natural"? Specifically that it's _only_ organic with no synthetic components, even if those components might be recognised by an organic chemist, and produced only by certain processes.

Although oddly, some of the chemicals that are permitted on organic crops are what a chemist would call inorganic.

Suspect these days it's mainly a marketing trick though.

nib