Unfortunately, I don't have much time for blogging these days, also due to fierce competition from Facebook, plus a new addiction to Twirl, from which I hope to snap out very soon!
But today, good old Capital Radio gave me a good reason to add a linguistic gripe, that I haven't had since too long, possibly also because I haven't been listening to a lot of radio either. My favourite online radio station is really the tops where commercials are concerned. This one has been aired for months, but I never got round to denounce it. This is how it goes:
"Do you enjoy laughing at yourself, or do you like to laugh at other people?" The ad kicks off with this message to draw the listeners' attention. It's intended to publicise some "comedy" show, Maltese style, on Maltese TV. It's one of my life's biggest regrets that I haven't ever been able to watch it yet... (please note carefully: irony flag raised high)
Now, the scriptwriter probably intended the question to target listeners who like to laugh at themselves as well as at others. But the way it was written was ambiguous, and the female voice, that in the past famously placed the pop singer Madonna in the Christmas crib, interpreted it this way: "Do you enjoy laughing at yourself, or do you [prefer] to laugh at other people?" She doesn't actually use the word "prefer", but the way she intonates "like" in the second part of the question has exactly that meaning. The message conveyed is this: you can EITHER enjoy laughing at yourself OR like to laugh at other people. In that case, the ad proceeds with a colossal non sequitur, you should watch the comedy show whatever it is: it's so funny!
If the scriptwriting and its interpretation for this comedy show are anything similar to the quality of the advert, the Blackadder gang's efforts would pale into insignificance by comparison.
They then add the recording of a laughing clown at the very end of the ad. YUCK!
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