Am I the only one whose prescriptive side is bothered by this advertising campaign?
I think I might go to the KFC next door instead (assuming they know how to conjugate a verb).
Please pass me a Dorito while I am deciding. Though it could take a while; better pass me a handful of Doritos.
Image credit: Just A Thought
5 comments:
Trademarked names are not--indeed, must not--be conjugated. The trademark is "Doritos"; there is no "Dorito."
A trademark stickler would object to the use of "Doritos" as a noun. Strictly speaking, trademarks are adjectives: Kleenex brand facial tissue; Google search engine; Doritos corn chips.
Nancy - Thank you for the info. I guess this post shows how little I know about trademarks(or maybe I have pre-genericized "Doritos" in my mind as I equate them with a noun meaning corn chips). Either way, considering "Doritos" as the adjective with a phonetically null "corn chips" in the ad still makes the verb choice sound strange to me.
Sounds odd to me too, as I too refer to a single Dorito as a Dorito (and most people probably do, I think). But there's no other option for them, as Nancy says above: there isn't a logo, even, that they could use (they'd have to make one specially and then presumably that causes trouble with legal stuff). My opinion? They should have rethunk the whole campaign.
Laura - I couldn't agree more.
Playing with grammatical conventions is one way ad campaigns force you to pay attention. (Remember Apple's "Think Different"?) I guarantee you'll now be thinking about Doritos all day, or even all week. Therefore, the campaign is a success.
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