Curiouser and Curiouser

Advertising has always trafficked in superlatives. Now they’re getting superlativer.

A BART station ad for BlackBerry Messenger (BBM).

The design of this poster is striking, but the slogan rings false. I don’t object on principle to the invented “closerer,” but “closer friends” made me jump to “loser friends” and then to the immortal “Coffee’s for closers only.”

And what’s going on in this Captain Morgan ad?

Update, September 2011: The video has been pulled down. Read about the campaign.

“Beer . . . it’s delicious,” purrs the Spanish-accented voiceover. “But could it be deliciouser?” The answer is “jess,” of course.* In the few seconds remaining, the spot also introduces “ridiculicious” and “brohemoth.” (Another spot in the series uses “brochacho,” a blend of “bro” and “muchacho.” Bro- is the man-word prefix du jour.)

Closerer? Deliciouser? Sounds like Dumb and Dumberer to me.

 

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* You could give yourself insomnia speculating why a rum brand named for a Welsh pirate is pitching Beer Helper in a comic-Spanglish accent.

Hat tip for the Captain Morgan ads to Ben Zimmer of Visual Thesaurus.

(The title of this post is borrowed, of course, from Alice in Wonderland, Chapter 2.)

Comments

[Ben Zimmer]

And then there's the T-Mobile G1 Android phone, billed as smarterer, connecteder, and funnerer. http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=628

Weirdest of all is the Old Spice Matterhorn superlative: freshershist.
http://www.oldspice.com/videos/25/Freshershist_15/

[Naomi Most]

Sounds like the ad industry is finally catching on to the effect Joss Whedon had on the now 28 to 35 year old demographic of Buffy, Angel, and Firefly fans, who probably think these ads are more clever and cute than you do.

[Duchesse]

Have to think of this after morninger coffee.

[Mark Gunnion]

Oooh, what do you mean? I was a Buffy and Firefly fiend, but I don't get your reference!

And did you hear, Whedon was just announced as the director for the upcoming Marvel-saga-unifying "Avengers" movie.

[John Russell]

I read it first as, "where closet friends get...".

[Jon Carroll]

I just heard the charming aphorism "Bro's before ho's."