Poor Ad Choice

This is a print advertisement of Burger King's Super Seven Incher sandwich in Singapore. Showing the sandwich by a wide-eyed woman accompanied by a suggestive tagline is incredibly distasteful. It's showing unappetizing references to oral sex.

The ad was a limited time promotion in Singapore and shortly discontinued.

The message 'It'll blow your mind away' did not entice anyone to try the sandwich. The message most definitely conveys a double meaning.

The response is for people to try the sandwich, however,  the problem with this particular ad is that it discourages people from buying it because of the confusing message.

Usage

I honestly don't know who is the ultimate authority of "correct usage." Who's to say that one person is more "correct" than the next? I think usage should depend on the person using the word. Also, is the word relevant to the conversation? I liked Theodore M. Bernstein's quote, "We should apply the test of convenience. Does the word fill a real need? If it does, let's give it a franchise."

One "usage" rule that bugs me (and one I am frequently guilty of using) is ending a sentence with a preposition or any other insignificant word. Sitting down to write this blog, I started to think of phrases I've used this week that would be considered incorrect usage.

Where you at?

Who's that book by?

What's that near to?

What's that movie about?

Where's my wallet at?

What do you need to go to the store for?

These are all sentences that if phrased differently would be perfectly acceptable. By ending a preposition at the end, not only is it incorrect English, it makes you sound unintelligent. Then again, I must come back to "who's to say that's wrong?" As long as a sentence sounds natural and its meaning is clear, why can't we end a sentence with a preposition? In Pennsylvania, there are many people that feel it's perfectly acceptable to end their sentences in this fashion. It's simply common in certain areas. It's literally verbiage that's been passed down for generations and will continue to be a never ending cycle. You can try as you might but sometimes those little words just pop out at the end.

Design That Wows

Volkswagen started the Cause+Affect campaign to help the company evolve into "green space."

Volkswagen was looking to improve their traditional car show experience. They wanted to create a new brand strategy that resonated with a conscious consumer audience.

"Green Guts" focused on the release of the new Jetta TDI Clean Diesel. Custom designed brochures and T-shirts were made for the special VIP launch party in Toronto, creating a holistic VW branded green experience.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Volkswagen/132045

Great design, great execution. Obviously it was appropriate to use green as the only color. The entire piece is incredibly clean, uncluttered and eye-catching. Creating the brochure to look like a leaf, a natural object, was also a smart design choice given that the company was trying to improve their green space.