Monday, May 9, 2011

McBLUNDER

Because I used to write radio spots…
I’m probably one of only a few weirdos…
Who love listening to them.
(if they’re well crafted, that is).
So while driving the other day…
I heard a new spot for McDonald's.
Specifically, McCafe's new Mango Pineapple smoothie.
Of course the voice over talent went on to say…
"Mango, delectably sweet...
Pineapple, delectably citrusy"SCREECH!
Ow…my brain just got a new wrinkle!
Pineapple citrusy?
Pineapple is not and never will be…
A citrus fruit.
And actually …
Citrusy isn’t even a word!
OK, I do get creative play on words (wordisms)...
In fact, the spot continued with the line "Holy Fruitamony" and that's cute…
But, I never bastardized a definition.
So? How did the “pineapple, delectably citrusy” slip past…
The copywriter?
The account exec?
The client?
(I have to assume they're all college educated)
The bigger question though is…
Does anyone care...
If there’s misinformation about pineapple in a radio spot?
And how much more misinformation is being written...
That slips right into the ears of listeners...
And no one catches?
And if you can't trust a radio spot...
Well then...?
So?
Does “citrusy pineapple” offend your sensibilities?
 Or what other blunders have you heard that does?

Always, Em-Musing

7 comments:

Jennifer Shirk said...

LOL! Actually I probably wouldn't have caught it because I'm thinking tart with pineapple. But now that I think about it, yeah it is NOT citrusy. And I wouldn't buy that smoothie (if I ever went to McDonalds)
But I kind of like saying that made up word "citrusy". :)

Sarah said...

Unfortunately, that's kind of the tip of the iceberg in advertising, isn't it? I also avoid listening to or watching commercials whenever possible!

Samantha Vérant said...

Which leads us to bigger questions: where did pineapples come from? How were they created? And, perhaps, do they want to be considered as citrus fruits?

Anne Gallagher said...

I never would have caught on. But I guess when you're as big a corporatation as McD's you can say anything you want, right down to making up your own words and rearranging the DNA of a fruit.

Talli Roland said...

McDonald's does smoothies?

I need to move back to North America!

Joanne said...

It doesn't offend my sensibilities, but it doesn't surprise me either. I've noticed lots of errors lately in the business world, and don't really get it. It's definitely a trend though.

Misha Gerrick said...

*cries* Why would they do that? Pineapple doesn't even taste like citrus. I don't understand! *sigh.*