[Vision2020] La Times: Mega-brands can't buy everything

Art Deco deco at moscow.com
Wed Mar 21 07:17:07 PDT 2007


The following OP/ED article discusses in different language the issue of persuasive definitions (see below).

The perspicacious reader will see how the Wilson & Family's Christless Cult & Cash Machine -- (You must tolerate us since we do not tolerate anyone else) uses persuasive definitions of "racism", "sexism", "homophobia", etc, but most frightening of all, "liberty" and "freedom", just as McDonalds is caught doing below, to disguise the brutality and repugnancy of their (the cult's) views.

W.



http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-brands21mar21,0,4828167.story?track=ntothtml

EDITORIAL
Mega-brands can't buy everything
Ameriquest gets turned down from branding a ballpark; McDonald's can't get the dictionary to positively spin the definition of 'McJob.'

March 21, 2007

NEXT TIME YOU fret that global corporations such as Microsoft, Starbucks and Wal-Mart rule the world, consider this: Even as they overtake desktops, street corners and mini-malls, mega-brands can't own the English language.

Two events this week show how difficult it can be for companies to control their brands. First, after a year of trying, the Texas Rangers finally succeeded in dumping their ballpark's name sponsor, Ameriquest, after the struggling mortgage giant laid off a large number of employees.

Then McDonald's announced that it would petition the Oxford English Dictionary to change its definition of "McJob." The dictionary currently defines the popular term as "an unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects, especially one created by the expansion of the service sector." David Fairhurst, "chief people officer" for McDonald's in Northern Europe, called for a new definition to "reflect a job that is stimulating, rewarding and offers genuine opportunities for career progression and skills that last a lifetime."

Presumably, Fairhurst is semi-joking. Unless he's some kind of Orwellian villain, he can't possibly believe he can, by decree, get people to hear "McJob" and think "awesome gig!" Even as companies spend millions splashing their logos across T-shirts, stadiums and sitcoms, real-life events skew brand messages all the time - in bad times (Enron Field in Houston became Minute Maid Park) and good (mergers turned Pac Bell Park into SBC Park, then into AT&T Park). Executives grumble when trademarks slip into common usage - think of Kleenex, Xerox or Google - but that's always been part of the price of success. 

Ameriquest, which has bigger problems than a sponsorship deal gone bad and probably won't mind not having to fork over $75 million to the Rangers, backed off quietly. But McDonald's fights on, despite a spotty track record beating up on those nasty lexicographers. In 2003, former Chief Executive Jim Cantalupo flew into a rage when the definition of "McJob" popped up on a marketing webpage for Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Like Fairhurst, he wrote a scathing letter.

The result? "McJob" disappeared from Merriam-Webster's webpage - but kept its place in the dictionary. And, according to the lexicographers at the Oxford English Dictionary, its place in the English language.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persuasive_definition
Persuasive definition
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A persuasive definition is a form of definition which purports to describe the 'true' or 'commonly accepted' meaning of a term, while in reality stipulating an uncommon or altered use, usually to support an argument for some view, or to create or alter rights, duties or crimes. The terms thus defined will often involve emotionally charged but imprecise notions, such as "freedom", "terrorism", "democracy" etc.

An example is the definition of the term "date rape" as "sex with an intoxicated person after a party". The extremely negatively charged term "rape", typically used for sex without consent, sometimes even enforced by physical violence, is used here to increase the condemnation of the described behavior. The definition of "software piracy" as the act of infringing the copyrights of computer programs is another example.

Persuasive definitions commonly appear in controversial topics such as politics, sex, and religion, as participants in emotionally-charged exchanges will sometimes become more concerned about swaying people to one side or another than expressing the unbiased facts.

The term "persuasive definition" was introduced by philosopher C.L. Stevenson as part of his emotive theory of meaning.


[edit] References
  a.. Stevensen, C.L. "Persuasive Definitions." Mind Vol. 47, No. 187. (July 1938), pp. 331-350
  b.. Stevenson, C.L., Ethics and Language, Connecticut 1944
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