It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.
Just this morning I received one of the funniest serious emails that I have seen in a while from a former colleague at PMI. The title of the message was “In Poor Taste”. Her message was short but animated:
The other day I found a new pastry, called ‘Long John,’ in the vending machine at work. My first thought was that the name suggested a colloquialism other than “pastry.” Colleagues in my department thought the same thing because we didn’t know that there was this type of donut.
Apparently she did some internet research and discovered that: “During the NAMA Expo, the company previewed its latest premium pastry, the 4-oz. white iced raspberry jelly-filled Long John, which will be available in January and vend for $1 or more.”
She closed her note emphatically stating: I don’t plan on trying this “premium pastry.”
Attached to the message was a camera phone shot of the questionable delicacy.
Her whole experience started me thinking about how, in a time where access to information and easy to use communication tools empower millions every day, this situation could have been a boon or an absolute disaster for the company involved. Case in point, this could be the most delicious jelly-filled vended treat that one could possibly find to satisfy a mid-day snack attack, but many people will never know simply because the imagery and the product marketing appear to be more suggestive than it has to be. Some may even interpret it to be perverse or offensive. Personally I think it’s one of the funniest things I have seen – at least in a food product – in quite some time. I guess it’s all about interpretation. But all you need are a few people who don’t like it and the buzz-storm begins. They tweet about it and blog about it and tell their friends. Then one of the blog posts gets Dugg or Slashdotted and then it’s drawn into the national spotlight. It’s a vicious cycle all caused by a poor choice of words. Would it ever happen? Probably not in this specific instance, but it could and it has.
The moral of the story: It’s imperative to make sure what you are saying is consistent with how you are saying it. How do you really want to be perceived? I believe the adage from Edward Bulwer-Lytton: the pen is mightier than the sword is perfectly applicable here. If you are responsible for communicating specific messages choose your words very carefully. Let’s make it personal, how many times in your personal or association-related communications did you intend to convey one message only to end up communicating something totally different? I know that it happens all of the time.
So while this is a pretty humorous situation – at least for those of us who don’t have to deal with the impact of it – it’s also a powerful reminder of just how imperative clear communication is.
What you say matters, but how you say it is key.
Your thoughts, opinions and reactions are always welcome.
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My name is Dave Sabol and I work at the intersection of technology, online learning and knowledge management. Associated Knowledge is my way of capturing the insight that I gain as I navigate my way through the world of social media and open source technology.
I think it’s a regional thing. Long johns are a pretty standard donut in the midwest. It’s just an eclair.
Sounds like they’re muscling in Hostess’ Ding Dong market.
Fred, while I can’t disagree with your statement about it being a regional colloquialism, the fact of the matter remains that the product is being marketed nationally. They should have called it what it is: an eclair. If we expanded our view from national to international there would be even more confusion and mixed sentiment. My point is simple, if you are responsible for marketing something you should also be aware of where you are marketing it to. Local or regional is one thing but national or international is very different. To reiterated what I said initially…it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. Thanks for the comment.