Sometimes when I'm driving around town or living my life, I notice stuff. Stuff that bugs me. Stuff that amuses me. Stuff that irks me. If my kiddos are in the van with me, I'll share my observations with them. If not, I have to talk to myself. Also, if I notice something that my kids won't *get* or care about, I just hold it in, stuffing my observations deep into the back recesses of my mind.
If only I had a place to share my random thoughts. A place where I could say or type whatever I wanted.
A blog.
Hey! I have one of those.
Cool. So here I go, lite ranting away.
There is a new bank in town, Brazos Valley Bank. It sponsored the local baseball park where the Brazos Valley Bombers play. Clever, bank board! The bank drivers drive bright yellow rectangle cars. And its slogan - painted in bright blue letters on every yellow car, every ATM, and every bank itself - is: Redefining Convenience.
I really thought about that slogan the other day after passing one of those yellow cars. Its absurdity became apparent after a shamefully long while awhile. Why does this bank need to redefine convenience? I like the definition we already have. Take it away, Merriam-Webster:
con·ve·nience noun \kən-ˈvēn-yən(t)s\
1: fitness or suitability for performing an action or fulfilling a requirement
2a : something (as an appliance, device, or service) conducive to comfort or ease
That's a good definition right there. Works for me. If the bank wanted its slogan to be Defining Convenience, I'd be on board. If they wanted Exemplifying Convenience, yes, get me an account, pronto! But I'm wondering if the slogan is actually the equivalent of a crossed fingers behind the back trick. As in, the bank is going to redefine convenience so that what the bank really offers is more inconvenience. Longer lines, fewer tellers, shorter hours, ugly lobbies.
This leads to a side rant, one I've shared (cautiously) with various composition classes over the semesters. Probably no surprise to you, but the college students I teach care very little about signage. Still, I keep blathering. Here's my suggestion in a nutshell: sign companies need to create and abide by some kind of ethical conduct protocol that involves a) keeping a trained proofreader ON STAFF and b) alerting customers (sign purchasers) when their signs are ugly, misspelled, inappropriate or, in the case of old Brazos Valley Bank, Orwellian.
3 comments:
Here, here to the proofreaders on staff at sign companies, or for anyone making signs of any type at any establishment. The people at the Target food court are unimpressed, and do not change their sign, even when I tell them there is no apostrophe in tacos.
BYU-Idaho's motto has always bothered me: "Re-thinking Education." Are they trying to encourage attrition? Or just sound like they're doing something cool/sneaky/tricky? Erudite? What on earth? Did you pay some focus group at a hotel convention center near the airport thousands of dollars to come up with that? Ugh. It sounds like it. (JY)
Amen and amen.
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