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Marketing Weasel Words #1: Limited Edition
Don’t let this happen to you. I love collecting words and expressions commonly found in marketing copy that seem full of meaning, but that are in reality vacuous and misleading. Here my first in the...
View ArticleMarketing Weasel Words #2: Antibiotic-Free
Here’s another in my series of amusingly misleading marketing expressions. antibiotic-free (adj.) In the US, “antibiotic-free” means only that an animal did not have antibiotics in its system when you...
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Marketing Weasel Words #3: Virtually
The flesh-ripping weasels are virtually harmless Another in my series of amusingly misleading marketing expressions. virtually (adv.) Virtually is the most beautiful word in marketingese because it...
View ArticleMarketing Weasel Words #4: As Low As
Here’s another amusingly misleading marketing expression: as low as (adv.) Asterisks ahoy! “As low as” is a deliciously ambiguous term that simply means that somebody, somewhere might actually get...
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Marketing Weasel Words #5: Bicast Leather
The “bicast leather” ottoman you might own. Yup, it’s just plastic. It’s time for yet another misleading term only found in the world of marketing: bicast leather (n.) Bicast leather is to leather what...
View ArticleMarketing Weasel Words #6: Accelerate
Another fun marketing expression, this time with a business jargon slant: accelerate (v.) In basic physics, when you accelerate, it implies two things: (1) you are already moving with some velocity;...
View ArticleMarketing Weasel Words #7: Season
Another fun marketing expression: season (n.) In the normal, temperate world, you have four seasons. In Thailand, there are three: hot, cold, and rainy. In Hawaii or Antarctica, only one. But...
View ArticleMarketing Weasel Words #8: Take it offline
More business jargon: let’s take it offline (v.) Translation: let’s stop discussing that irrelevant issue of yours, leaving you the responsibility for scheduling any follow-up. A minor idiocy about the...
View ArticleMarketing Weasel Words #9: Push the date forward
This isn’t really a marketing weasel word (yet), but I think it’s a wonderful ambiguity that often comes up in business contexts. Maybe you can deploy it in your next press release! push the date...
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