Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Have Yourself A Merry Little Date Rape

By Baxter

Forget the faux furor over stupid red coffee cups. We cats won't be going to Bloomingdale's any time soon.

But maybe not why you think. Yes, we're appalled at the carnal-abuse allusion in this now-notorious Bloomie's holiday ad. But we're even more revolted by the grammar. A little subject-pronoun agreement, please!

It's getting really tiresome that folks who are torn between using "his" and "her" try to avoid the choice by using "their" — but if you're talking about your "best friend," singular, you really have to decide what gender that person is.

Since it's the man in this ad who's looking suggestively at the unsuspecting woman, he's the one with Bill-Cosby-type behavior in mind. So it's "when she's not looking."

The ad agency involved obviously has no original thinkers in its creative department. And they're also illiterates. We cats put not just lumps of coal but copies of The Elements of Style in their stockings. And of course we HISS.

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