Don’t let puns become another victim of the Woolworths Anzac debacle
While Woolworths has received much-deserved opprobrium for its ‘Fresh in our memories’ Anzac Day campaign Chris Taylor fears puns could become the underserved victim of the backlash for advertisers.
Ah, puns. The copywriter’s equivalent of the dad joke. Harmless, chuckle-worthy, eye-rollingly good plays on words that make us expel air out of our noses at a rate faster than normal for at least one breath.
I will admit I love a good pun and even kind of like a ‘bad’ pun. Good on them for having a go, I’ll think to myself. See, when you’re coming up with headlines for things, you try to find ways to highlight the stuff you’ve been told to highlight. You need to make a connection between the product and the potential consumer. Why not draw on common ground with a few well-placed words that have a smile-inducing double meaning?
But I’m not in the majority here. Some people hate puns, or deride them as ‘cheap’ and ‘easy’. They say ‘there’s no such thing as a good pun’ and spend inordinate amounts of time attempting to create a gem before reverting to a tried and true “more than just a…”, “we’re for…” or new favourite “welcome to…”.
Well said Chris. Power to the pun.
“Worth Remembering” – that IS a pun, and it would have had equal if not more backlash had it been used.
Wade into the Anzac/ Woolies debate you risk being shot out of the water.
Meaning one. Fresh – as in the fresh fruit and vegetables – which Woolies (and Coles) sell in their huge fruit and vegetable departments.
Meaning two. Fresh – still alive in your memory.
Association. Fresh – a word famously used in Woolies advertising.
It’s well and truly a pun.
By definition a pun has to be a joke or at least attempting to be funny. The intention of ‘Fresh in our memories’ wasn’t to be funny. Hence, not a pun. Unwell and untruly.
This is getting stale…
It’s a pun.
Definition is wordplay on a word, with 2 meanings.
“Fresh” was used to play on the 2 meanings “recent” (Anzac) and “tasty” (Woolies).
Rushdie is correct. A pun doesn’t have to be funny, though it is usually.
Collins definition: The use of words or phrases to exploit ambiguities and innuendoes in their meaning, usually for humorous effect
The Woolworth’s campaign was not funny, but any un-braindead observer could see the pun.
hmmm, some puns are good some bad IMHO – the best make an exquisite point and are most often witty – and Professor Dick Champion of Sydney Uni used to say the sign of a good pun is when people groan… (when others said a pun is the lowest from of wit he replied that a bun was the lowest form of wheat)…
I think the deeper issue here is that Woollies simply fell into the trap known as Trivialising the Brand – in this case two brands with one stone… (Ad Grunt, Groucho, your thoughts?)… and they did it by cheap association. The inherent disservice to the Anzacs pivots around the fact that there were no fresh rations in the trenches. So no empathy straight up.
The disconnect for the consumers is the “our” – it’s wrong and makes it seem Wooliies-centric. In that respect it’s arse-about: far more potent to say ‘keep the memory of our heroes alive’ ergo ‘keep their memory fresh (in your mind)’
The disgust people felt emanates from the misappropriation of a sacred time for an ELP strategy – supermarkets have no place monopolising heritage even when disguised as an homage… and they are simply missing the whole point dynamic CX
Best we forget.
IMHO
next we’ll have Best & Less we forget
While Woolworths has received much-deserved opprobrium for it’s ‘Fresh in our memories’:
This should reads its rather than it’s.
And it’s Woolworths’ rather than Woolworth’s.
So – I don’t agree with the Woolies use of the ANZACs in their advertising.
However, on the TV the other night their was an ‘advert’ for a CD Spirit of the ANZACs with ‘music to remember the ANZACs to’ from the ABC
where do we draw the line??
There’s nothing that has been posted so far to change my opinion. The Collins Dictionary isn’t the be all and end all. Subtle digs at my braindeadedness won’t help your argument.