"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
- Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride
Let me say, first off, that I like Hawaiian Airlines, so no disrespect to the brand or employees. But every once in a while I get a promotional item which requires comment.
In this case, it's simply someone who didn't think about what words they were using, and in the context of an airline these were particularly poor choices.
This morning, in my email inbox, I ran across the below Hawaiian Airlines promotional email. I get dozens of these sorts of things daily, but this one caught my eye due to the wording of the subject line: "Dive into the Pacific".
Obviously an image they didn't really want to convey.
Secondly, in the body of the email: "Ditch the Sweater".
Um. Okay, really not a huge offense, but taken as a follow up to "Dive into the Pacific" it's just not the right way to phrase the message they're trying to convey.
I'm putting this here not to shame Hawaiian -- again,. I like them -- but to point out that words matter and context matters. All too often I read comments on the internet which don't convey the intended message. (I'm reminded of the post a day ago which shows a hand drawn sign reading "English Tooter" -- not the image you want to put out there).
Certainly Hawaiian has no intention of diving into the Pacific or ditching any of your personal belongings. And yes, I know what they were trying to say, but that's beside the point.
There's an old carpenter's saying. "Measure twice, cut once", which is another way of saying "look before you leap".
Or, in plan English: "Think ahead."
No comments:
Post a Comment