We spent some time staying with friends in what I thought was Surrey this week- except that their local council has decided to call itself Elmbridge, presumably on the basis that it sounds nice, as there doesn't actually seem to be a place called Elmbridge in the vicinity. But hey, why should that stop a go-ahead, hands-on, can-do sort of council making up a name for itself? Naturally, they need a slogan, and the one they've come up with - and it must have taken the PR boys and girls a lot of head-scratching- is "...bridging communities..." And yes, the dots are an integral part of it. I expect the dots added a few £k to the bill. Where to start with this? First, the dots are just silly and unnecessary. Second, how, exactly, is bridging being used here? They must mean something like "providing a bridge between communities" but that isn't as snappy is it? At least, though, it would make some sense. Of course, the use of the plural communities inplies a divided community, and that the council is some sort of UN peacekeeper force called in to keep the warlike residents of Esher and Walton-on-Thames from wiping each other out. Surprisingly, they aren't twinned with Sarajevo.
I suspect the real reason for the slogan is the feeble pun it contains. The fact that it's utterly fatuous is, in the eyes of the councillors, clearly not an issue.
3 comments:
Please Sir I use dots. Probably excessively but with the benefit of hindsight I think I tend to use them as a signal of an on going situation.
Jus tgoes to show that language is dynamic ...... in more ways than one :-)
I've nothing against dots per se - I use them myself - but what exactly do they add to this slogan?
Hmmm .. How about the dots are there to emphasise the bridge qualities?
Nope? Doesn't really do it for me either!
Nice work if you can get it though, fancy being paid a few £k to dream it up.
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