News, with a malicious little twist

Whilst doing my shopping this afternoon I glanced at the front page of Le Monde – one of the two main serious French dailies

The opening to the top front page news item was a neat example of that wit which none but the French deploy quite so well – and of how a carefully phrased sentence can convey a little innuendo.

It was about Bush, and read (in French, obviously): “The President has decided to take action to prevent a worldwide recession etc., etc.”

Now imagine the way an English or US paper might have reported that story. They would have said something like “President acts to stem recession.” Something simple, straightforward and implicitly positive.

What is the difference?

It is simple: that tiny reminder in Le Monde‘s phrasing that everybody has known of the dangers of a recession for months but only now has our boy got round to deciding to do something.

I must say, by the way, that it’s hardly possible that George Bush could be as stupid as people make him out to be, but I did find that little touch in Le Monde amusing.

Which I guess will have you thinking what a trivial mind I have. True.

But then again most British papers – even the serious ones – nowadays seem to lead with stories about football managers. We get the papers we deserve.

About the Author

In 2003, the Chartered Institute of Marketing named Drayton one of 50 living individuals who have shaped today’s marketing.

He has worked in 55 countries with many of the world’s greatest brands. These include American Express, Audi, Bentley, British Airways, Cisco, Columbia Business School, Deutsche Post, Ford, IBM, McKinsey, Mercedes, Microsoft, Nestle, Philips, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Unilever, Visa and Volkswagen.

Drayton has helped sell everything from Airbus planes to Peppa Pig. His book, Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing, out in 17 languages, has been the UK’s best seller on the subject every year since 1982. He has also run his own businesses in the U.K., Portugal and Malaysia.

He was a main board member of the Ogilvy Group, a founding member of the Superbrands Organisation, one of the first eight Honorary Fellows of the Institute of Direct Marketing and one of the first three people named to the Hall of Fame of the Direct Marketing Association of India. He has also been given Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Caples Organisation in New York and Early To Rise in Florida.

1 Comments

  1. Amanda

    Hi Drayton,

    Being from the U.S. & all… I can verify the stupidity of George W. Bush. Come by anytime for an IQ estimate (in the low 30s I imagine) of the president who not only drags his country through the gutter in a b.s. war, but fails to understand a financial crisis. (Does he know the word “financial”… not sure about that. I’d defer to Cheney!)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *