A Monthly Meditation on Branding and Language
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Emergency#27 (April 24, 2009):
It Came From Planet EditorialGreetings, Earthlings. We come in peace, with tales of sci-fi rebranding, some corporate jargon that should be lost in space, a quaint selection of atomic-age celluloid and Not Our Clients photos of people who really don't like aliens (and may still be living in the '50s). We trust the accumulated data will provide what you humans call pleasure. Commencing transmission ...
Semper Sci Fi
 On July 7, 2009, NBC Universal's Sci Fi Channel ó the network responsible for the hit series "Battlestar Galactica" and such original movies as "Ice Spiders," "Android Apocalypse" and "Mansquito" ó will complete a radical rebranding process. When it emerges from the laboratory, it will offer a retooled programming menu and a new name: Syfy.
The reason? For one thing, "Sci Fi" was too ubiquitous a term, the net's owners reasoned, and they needed a brand name they could fully own. And so, after receiving the divinations of expensive consultants, they purchased "Syfy" from a web portal. Why Syfy?
Read the rest here.
Red Pen Diaries: "Impactful" -- Ew
 Apparently, "impactful" is a word (and by this I mean it's recognized by a
handful of reasonably reputable sources).
I choose not to use it, however. I think it
sounds horrible, like an impacted wisdom tooth or, heaven forefend, an impacted
bowel.
I guess the days of saying, "That 'Hi, I'm a Mac' campaign sure had an impact"
are gone; now it's all, "That 'Hi, I'm a Mac' campaign sure was impactful."
I cringe every time I hear "impactful." In my heart of hearts, I just want "impact" to
be a noun. I prefer things to have an impact or make an impact or approach the point
of impact; I don't want them to impact each other or behave impactfully.
Read the rest here.
Round & Shiny: Saucer Eyes
 Our story about Sci Fi vs. Syfy naturally made me daydream about
my favorite science-fiction flicks ó notably the breathless, paranoid classics of the
'50s.
The Red Scare machine was running at full tilt, and pop culture obligingly furnished
fantastic metaphors for commie menace and nuclear peril: rampaging irradiated critters,
ruthless interstellar armadas and unfeeling enemies-in-disguise. But strip away the
misguided political subtext and you'll find some delirious entertainment; watching just
a few frames of any of the creature features listed below sends me tumbling back to
my movie-mad adolescence.
Read the rest here.
Not Our Clients: Mad Speller's Tea Party Edition
The recent conservative "tea parties" made a fairly loud (if overhyped) yawp
across our great nation. We may not share the protesters' views, but EE always
appreciates passionate citizen involvement. Still, if you're new to public displays of
discontent, it might be a good idea to give your sign a once-over before you parade it
in front of the cameras. 
On the plus side, she spelled "Obama" correctly.
This was a stinging rebuke to the Moran family of Barstow, Calif.
In other news, you can peruse a vast conspiracy of dunces in our Not Our
Clients gallery. Would you like to make your voice heard? Document some brutal repression of language, grammar or usage and leak it to
us at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
with a patriotic message of your choosing. If we
elect to expose it, we'll send you an iTunes gift card. You can use it to download "Let the Eagle Soar."
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