Marketingese

Marketingese. Is that a word? I hope so, because this post is about a sample of it. This is a style of writing that I don’t much like. I write to explain things, not encourage fantasy. Here’s what I’m talking about:

The front of the plaid packet said UPTAPPED: ALL NATURAL ENERGY. The marketing copy said, “For too long athletic nutrition has been sweetened with cheap synthetic sugars. The simplicity of endurance sports deserves a simple ingredient — 100% pure, unadulterated, organic […] the all-natural, low glycemic-index sports fuel.”

This was the label on a packet of maple syrup.

That’s a quote from an article in vulture.com that speaks ill of business talk aka corporate-speak, made-up words, and new metaphors common in corporate culture. (The writer of the article calls these expressions, among other things, “usage peeves.”) It’s a fun read if you like good language and dislike certain neologisms: Why do corporations speak the way they do? I could pull a lot of quotes from the article, and they’d fit comfortably on this website, but I’ll settle for this.

Read the article and pick your own favorite examples of non-expository language.

Okay, here’s the picture that goes with the article: