Tag Archives: marketing

Verbal Abuse

While the ruthless encroachment of the English language (particularly into the German media and advertising sectors) continues unabatedly, there is some positive news to report. That’s what happens when two languages combine and create a Frankenpidgin monstrosity named Denglish. Continue reading

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The Archivist’s Dilemma

I am a collector because I collect a particular kind of cassette. I am an archivist because I disseminate and publish facts and data which future generations might find useful. The (meta)data ends up in a database called Discogs. Scans end up in my personal stash, and the cassettes end up in the trash. Nobody wants those, they’re just plastic matter. But what of the audio on those tapes, the gist of it all? Let corporate greed ensure that the majority of “European” recordings will survive for future generations to gush over. Continue reading

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Marketing FAIL: Du darfst

A couple of weeks ago I was stuck behind the TV when programming was interrupted by the usual barrage of messages from their sponsors. And suddenly, amongst all the noise, a female voice proudly proclaimed in her German accent, “Fuck the diet!” Continue reading

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When Microsoft attempts racial profiling

Last week the web was all aflutter about Microsoft’s poor photoshopping skills. Clearly, a lot of black males were outraged and a many a white male may have felt patronised but were it not for the benign demographic republic of geekdom that ultimately was insulted, this minor tempest in a tea cup could easily have become a global shitstorm in a Polish pisspot. Continue reading

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The bare necessities: Teddy vs. Bruno

Of hugely entertaining value to an English speaker living in Germany is the recent insistence by locals to spice up their vocabulary with modern English words and phrases — as if no equivalent or suitable German words were available! Advertising agencies and the media are particularly guilty of this malpractice. Continue reading

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