Episode 126: You Need Better Grammar More than Me, Jell-O. "Bad Day" equals Poor Grammar

I was watching television after a long day of cooking yesterday and I saw the new classic Jell-O commercial titled "Bad Day." The commercial features a dad saying how much he likes Jell-O and has the son placing himself into his father's shoes. The son says, at the end of the commercial, "Here. You need this more than me." I know kids don't have the best grammar. I work on grammar and word choice with my daughter on a regular basis. This kid is reading a script! What are these scriptwriters thinking?

Here. You need this more than I do.

I don't speak like everyone; I speak the way I speak.

Imagine placing your business in the hands of the people who cannot edit their commercials properly. Scottrade has an advertisement running right now that ends with the line "I don't trade like everyone else; I trade like me."

Like, for those of you who, like, read this blog from time to time, you know that, like, I don't appreciate misusing the word "like." The first part of that sentence should have been "I don't make the same trades AS everyone else...."

The concluding like is even more problematic.  It is very simple: Don't mix 'persons.' Me, Myself, and I are the choices for the final word. "I trade the way I trade." The final two lines spoken by the actress should be: "I don't make the same trades as everyone else does, I trade the way I trade. I trade with Scottrade.

I guess I'll keep blogging until I run out of material.

You can't have the same grammar as me.

It is spring sale time, you know, Easter-time sales, and with the arrival those new sales there are new advertisements that did not quite pass the grammar test. The one that caught my ear, yes my ear, is the one that is advertising the Volkswagen Springtober event. A young family is admiring a new VW. The neighbor/friend says "You can’t have the same car as me." This is bad on two accounts. First, he obviously cannot have the same car unless they are car-sharing. Secondly, the sentence should have been: "You can't have the same model of car as  I have. " He also could have said "You can't buy the same model as I just bought." Good Grammar; That would just be weird.

There is a prescription for bad grammar

I found another example of bad grammar in advertising, just when I thought that I was going to run out of fodder for this blog. I was watching television this afternoon and there was an advertisement for a COPD Drug (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.)

The actress who said "If you have COPD like me..." must have been thinking about her Facebook post. The real way to say that would be "If you have COPD as I do..."

If you find more examples of bad grammar in advertising, let me know.

They have better grammar than me

Today's go-go world has spawned the need for food that is easy to consume while running at full-speed. Energy bars and recovery drink are found just about everywhere. How do you make sure that you get enough protein during the day: Drink Ensure.

You have a choice of many flavors, and now you can have Ensure Clear and proclaim as they do during the advertisment: "Hey, Ensure Clear has 3g more protein than me."Whoops... three more grams of protein than I do.

I ordered me a grammar book

I think that Terry Bradshaw is fun as a commentator and that he was awesome as a quarterback. The boy needs grammar lessons for his Nutrasystem commercial. This is another commercial that makes me think "What were the advertisers thinking when they created this spot?"

Terry needed to shed some pounds. He ordered the system. All he had to say was "I picked up the phone and ordered Nutrasystem." Unless he was buying a gift for someone else, and what a dangerous gift that could be, he was ordering it for his own personal use. All he had to say was "I ordered Nutrasystem."  He doesn't need to say "myself" or "me." It is similar to saying "In my personal opinion...." If not your opinion than whose?  Is it an impersonal opinion?

This commercial is a Grama's Grammar two-fer. He says that you can look "purdy like me." It would have been better if he were to have said "as handsome as I do." Is he handsome? That is up for the viewers to decide.

If he were to buy a grammar handbook  he could probably speak as  grammatically correct as my mother does.

They have better grammar than us

Sometimes I wonder if the people who run television companies watch their own shows.  My daughter likes watching the Disney television show "Lab Rats." The show's premise is that Mr. Davenport has created three teens: A smart one, a fast one, and a strong one. The opening sequence starts with the voice-over "...they are stronger than us, faster, smarter." Enough said? Check the pronoun.

So Them Are Here

I have accumulated a small collection of bad grammar moments from television commercials. The commercial that started this train of thought is the Progressive commercial with the confused price shopper talking to "Flo" looking at the comparison board.

The shopper says something along the line of "So, I don't have to give them a call." Fine. Then they say "So them are here." Really? Do we have to dumb down grammar to sell car insurance?

Got Grammar?