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It's a cookbook!

By Rebecca Tushnet

I?ve been thinking about Gricean implicature?I think more people should use Gricean analysis in interpreting advertising claims. For example, Pirate?s Booty uses the slogan ?Good for You.? The founder claims that the phrase ?Good for You? on a bag of Tings (eight grams fat) isn?t ?so much a claim as a congratulation: ?You bought this bag ? well, good for you!? In [conversation with NYT columnist Rob Walker], he stuck with this, pointing out that the product contains no MSG and no preservatives, and therefore the buyer deserves a pat on the back for choosing a snack that?s not so bad ?.?

As Walker?s commentary indicates, this ?explanation? doesn?t pass the laugh test. It?s a slimy equivocation, and I suspect that better attention to Grice would help more people appreciate why.

Post title courtesy of Zachary Schrag; explanation here.

Full post as published by 43(B)log on July 03, 2008 (boomark / email).