AS SEEN IN SECOND LIFE… catchphrases
Posted on: May 27, 2008
Bless Ron Popeil. In the infomercial and even the broader marketing worlds, he's a king of catchphrases.
Now, catchphrases are a mildly dangerous thing: the upside is they can serve is an easy-access gateway to you as a person. Just like many fans of Rodney Dangerfield greeted him with his own quips about not getting any respect, I imagine Popeil gets kindly confronted on numerous occasions with: "But wait, there's more!"
This no doubt aided both Dangerfield's and Popeil's popularity, since it's noticeably easier to quote a brief line than an entire spiel. The catchphrase, like its audio cousin the earworm, serves as a "hook", an appetizer for the meal of personality that is yet to come. Many know the opening riff of Beethoven's "Symphony No. 5" — few can hum the whole thing.
And like many goods, if you give a yummy sampler to someone, they may want to sit down for the whole meal, and take the time to savor it wholly. Software has learning curves, and so do humans: some people (and many products) are easier to know because they have catchphrases. A fine catchphrase is like an easy tutorial that gets you started.
But just like the tutorial is the beginning and not the sum of the learning journey, the shame of catchphrases lies in their deceptive ability to misrepresent the entirety of someone's character. As I like to say: "Red is part of the rainbow, but not the entire visible spectrum."
All things accounted for, catchphrases are a useful tool to help you connect with people and warm up, and that's why I'll keep saying "Friendly greetings!"
Do you have a catchphrase?
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May 28th, 2008 at 12:22 PM PDT
Hi Torley, would that be like 'watermelon'?
Hehehe, hey, its good to see that we can still pick you out a lineout even at a distance - At M's introduction meeting with you Lindens, you stick out like a ripe melon
Cheers and keep it coming,
Dumi
May 28th, 2008 at 5:34 PM PDT
Here's one I used to use:
The first exposure that most people get to Second Life projects is through video.
skribe
May 28th, 2008 at 8:15 PM PDT
Never really have had a catch phrase - which means I get to think one up!! It's a nice thought provoking question, Torley.
I always liked the catch phrases in the Mormonads out of "The New Era" magazine. My favorite was: "Be your own kind of Beautiful", but it was the picture that went with it that made it so inspiring. Imagine a deep bouquet of roses with only one single shining daisy directly beckoning from the center of the bouquet. It speaks volumes to me.
May 29th, 2008 at 12:29 AM PDT
Hey Torley, tried commenting yesterday morning, but seems nothing came through, so here goes again. Firstly when I hear 'Watermelon' Torley jumps to mind immediately, showing that you certainly have the catch phrase down to a personal attribute already
It may be argued that that is not exactly a catch phrase as in 'kowabanga', but it certainly makes remember you or identifying you very very easy - as in M Linden's LL meeting snapshot where you were the easiest Linden to identify by far.
By the way, reCaptcha can be real tough to read sometimes. Really depends on what font they decide to generate the random words with, but I've got my school glasses on now (about 30 yrs old) and finally can make out enough to submit this to you
May 29th, 2008 at 9:44 AM PDT
I like to say "Step in Sunshine" when I am exiting stage right, or left! LOL
June 1st, 2008 at 10:27 AM PDT
@Dumisani: I wish there was no such thing as spam and everyone made worthwhile comments! Alas, not so. I had a great time with my Philip-melon avatar. Thanx for your thoughts!
@skribe: I'm with you there!
@Russell: I've never heard that one before, but it sounds like coupled with that imagery enhanced its message substantially. I like that.
@Mimzy: Almost sounds like that needs a music track to go with it… a short sweep of orchestral strings!