Comments on: dude, the advertising of observation

By: D Thomas

D Thomas — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:47:49 +0000

Mom?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAaHTypIZhE

Zales ad for Mother’s Day.

By: Jason Rockwood

Jason Rockwood — Wed, 07 May 2008 22:52:05 +0000

Cool.

By: James

James — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:50:36 +0000

So? So. So…so…so. So!? So!

And, of course, Carlin on the F-word that I can’t believe hasn’t been referenced yet:
http://juustro.letku.net/stuff/Usage_of_Fuck.mp3

By: Michael Powell

Michael Powell — Wed, 07 May 2008 12:50:54 +0000

really.
really?
really (get your shoulders/head into it, a kind of subtle downward movement.)

In the last 5 years or so, this one word has become a very popular way to respond to all kinds of interesting comments, surprising insights or potentially counterintuitive statements. I admit it’s hard to explain the subtleties in words, but I hear someone use “really” just about everyday.

By: Seamus McCauley

Seamus McCauley — Wed, 07 May 2008 10:22:31 +0000

There is a version of Star Wars with all dialogue replaced with a simple “dude” here http://download.theforce.net/theater/stardudes.html

By: Rick Liebling

Rick Liebling — Wed, 07 May 2008 10:11:46 +0000

Peter makes a great point. In these Bud Light ads, almost any word, or syllable really, could replace ‘Dude’ and you would get a similar effect (great reference on the Freberg piece as well Peter).

This ad for Bud Light, along with the phone ad Grant mentions are both forshadowed in the “Wassup!” ads from Budweiser back in the day.

Original here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkPjnhZe8x4

In this ad, not only do we have five guys all tweaking “What’s up?” on the phone, but if I recall correctly, the campaign went through multiple iterations that tweaked the meaning of “What’s up?” to the point where it morphed to “Wasabi!” at a Japanese restaurant.

By: Eric Nehrlich

Eric Nehrlich — Wed, 07 May 2008 09:11:00 +0000

Grant, I can’t believe you wrote this post without a link to the infamous scene from The Wire that consists only of one profane word and derivations thereof. Possibly the greatest example of the versatility of a single word that I’ve seen. But dude is pretty awesome too.

By: Tom Guarriello

Tom Guarriello — Wed, 07 May 2008 06:49:50 +0000

African-Americans have demonstrated with great effectiveness the incredible malleability of the derogatory term for members of their race.

By: Kit

Kit — Wed, 07 May 2008 05:51:55 +0000

OK? OK. OK! OK… OK,OK,OK.

By: peter

peter — Wed, 07 May 2008 04:07:09 +0000

Grant, I guess what is doing the communicating in the Dude advert are the non-linguistic elements of the utterance — tone of voice, pitch, speed, even rolling-eyes.

Stan Freberg had a great sketch in which a man and woman had an extended conversation, through a wide range of emotions, uttering only their two respective names: John and Martha (if memory serves).

Regarding the culture of minute observation: an innovator here was Jerry Seinfeld, whose stand-up routines (even prior to his TV series), I am told by people who saw him then, stood-out from those of his fellow comedians. His TV series continued this comedy of manners, all of it based on acute observation.