Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?
Israeli newspaper Haaretz has an interesting article today on high school seniors’ misuse of electronic dictionaries during their English exams. Can you decipher what the students meant, from what they actually wrote?
Read the full article in Ingleesh or in Ibroo.
H/T: Guy Yitzhaki
This evening Israeli Channel 10 News covered Brad Pitt’s microphone malfunctioning on Fox’s Idol Gives Back and stage manager Debbie McVickers shining as she came to the rescue. Channel 10’s fluffy-issues correspondent Haim Etgar dubbed the incident ‘a huge screw-up’, right before using a caption that seemed like it was spelled by an 11 years old ‘Idol’ fan:
Huge screw-up indeed! Thanks for attending mandatory English class in school, Haim.
Avid readers of my blog know all about my disdain for Engbrew, the English/Hebrew language that threatens to replace the holy tongue. Based on a child-like fascination with the American culture, many Israelis think speaking English-peppered Hebrew makes them seem more intelligent. Yes, just like the people who think wearing glasses makes you look smarter, many Israelis think that the more English words, terms and idioms they use while talking to their peers, the more cool they seem.
Last night, as I was watching a news report about the new Israeli cell phone company modu, my jaw dropped when one of the executives started speaking Engbrew:
Rabbi Raphael Halperin, owner of Optica Halperin (and a former wrestler), announced yesterday that he is cancelling the tender for the company’s advertising account. This was the first time in 19 years the company called a pitch to run its three million dollars account, but after reviewing the bids Halperin decided to continue advertising on his own, buying media as an individual.
Halperin told Maariv newspaper that he did not like any of the ad agencies’ bids, as all of them focused on changing the company – not advertising it.
I applaud Rabbi Halperin as it must be difficult to watch the current advertising trends, and say with conviction: You are all crazy, and I must be the only sane person left. While he did not elaborate, I am willing to put my money where my keyboard is and suggest each of the bids received included at least one of the following overused superficial makeovers:
The Acronym Shtick:
In lieu of creative thinking let’s just acronym the company’s Hebrew name into English letters, just like with these companies:
Matim Li >> ML
HaMashbir Mahsaney Ofna >> H&O
Lilith & Varda >> L&V
Avigdor Shoes >> AVG
The Color Shtick:
They say if you can’t make it good, make it big – and if you can’t make it big, make it red. The following companies actually paid money for this advice:
Cellcom (telecom) >> Purple
Pelephone (telecom) >> Blue
Orange (telecom) >> Orange
Bezeq (telecom) >> Blue
Mirs (telecom) >> Green
Hapoalim (bank) >> Red
Discount (bank) >> Green
Leumi (bank) >> Blue
The Logo Shtick:
One of my favorite shticks, and the one that proves ad agencies basically create their own market by convincing companies to change their logo every couple of years.
Here is a visual timeline I created for a number of leading Israeli companies, one not-so-leading company that has never changed its logo, and one organization that was brave enough to revert to its vintage logo after two years of using a new-and-improved logo.
Please note this is a draft and some dates are mere estimates.
