Having Fun with Apples

MikeKnowles

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My theory is that hyperbole is gradually devaluing the English language. Advertising and marketing people are prime offenders. For example, I recently came across a bag of apples called, “Fun Apples.” I may be an overly serious type of person, but try as I might I can’t imagine an apple being a source of fun. Maybe I’ve been buying the wrong apples? In which case these apples might open my eyes to a new source of entertainment. Maybe you’re not supposed to eat them Maybe you’re supposed to throw them at people. That might be fun. On the other hand, it might not.

There was a clue. The apples in question were small. The marketing people were implying that not all apples are fun. Just the small ones. In that case the solution is simple. If farmers want us to have fun eating their apples they should stop growing the big ones. Stick to crab apple sized apples. What I want to know is what convoluted logic was going through the copywriter’s mind when they decided that small apples were “fun apples?” Did they actually think people were going to say to themselves, ‘Hey! I must buy these apples because they’re not serious like those big ones.’ Or were they going to ignore the “fun” label and buy them because they were cheaper than the big ones?’

Is it any wonder kids are going around calling the most inane things, “totally awesome?” One can just imagine the great writers of the past spinning in their graves. On the other hand, that would be totally awesome!
 

Mumut

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On the same theme, I was watching an ad for a bed which can be set for different hardness on either side. The "bad" bed was shown off with the female partner trying to sleep while the other, in a series of examples, pared his toenails, jigged about listening to music or thrashed about in a nightmare. Now, I might have missed something here but I think, even if her side was a soft as she wanted it and his as hard as he likes, she still would have problems if he displayed such anti-social and extravagant behaviour when she was trying to sleep. Does changing the hardness of the matress impart better bed manners to a man?

Sam Johnson, in his book on a trip with Boswell around UK in the seventeenth century, complains of how the English language was being misused in those days. People were calling an event terrible when there was nothing terrifying about it, and aweful when id did nothing to hole the observer in awe.

We haven't improved since then, have we?
 

MikeKnowles

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On the same theme, I was watching an ad for a bed which can be set for different hardness on either side. The "bad" bed was shown off with the female partner trying to sleep while the other, in a series of examples, pared his toenails, jigged about listening to music or thrashed about in a nightmare. Now, I might have missed something here but I think, even if her side was a soft as she wanted it and his as hard as he likes, she still would have problems if he displayed such anti-social and extravagant behaviour when she was trying to sleep. Does changing the hardness of the matress impart better bed manners to a man?

Sam Johnson, in his book on a trip with Boswell around UK in the seventeenth century, complains of how the English language was being misused in those days. People were calling an event terrible when there was nothing terrifying about it, and aweful when id did nothing to hole the observer in awe.

We haven't improved since then, have we?

In short, no
 

Newguy1428

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I think they are marketing to children...smaller portion size. In that case, they are overdoing it even more.

On the flip side, something has to be done about processed vs. fresh food in our diet. How about Aristotelian apples for those who like to think and argue? Diet apples for those who want to be fit? Aptitude apples for...you get the picture?