Wordplay: Don't let 'Spill, Baby, Spill' happen to you

Vet your tagline with RhymeZone.com

They might have seen it coming.

Don't let a good slogan go bad — **STORMY WEATHER:** Before you adopt a slogan, think through what the opposition might do with it.

Nope, not BP of the Gulf Coast oil spill. But Sarah Palin, Michael Steele and other supporters of increased domestic oil drilling of their slogan “Drill, baby, drill.”

Don’t get me wrong. “Drill, baby, drill” is actually a fabulous slogan.

“Slogans are fabulous when they use few words (two! one used twice) to unite and signify a tribe,” writes Seth Godin, author of Linchpin.

Plus, rhymes and other “fluent” words and phrases engage people. And strong verbs, like “drill,” paint pictures in readers’ minds and convey a can-do, action-oriented mindset.

“Support it or not,” Godin writes, “you have to agree that it was a great slogan. (Until it wasn’t.)”

But did nobody consider how the opposition might use this phrase?

Among the rhymes for “drill,” according to Wylie Communications Inc.’s chief verse officer RhymeZone.com, are:

Bill
Fill
Grill
Ill
Kill
Pill
Shrill

And, of course, “spill.”

Before you launch your fabulous new slogan, run it by your lawyers — then run it through RhymeZone.

Master the Art of the Storyteller
My husband likes to quote Anonymous, who said: “If a man speaks in the forest, and no woman is there to hear him, is he still wrong?”
The corporate communication writer’s corollary: If you cover your terribly serious and important stories, and nobody pays attention, does your message still make a sound?
In this creative-writing workshop, you’ll learn how to write copy that grabs attention, keeps it longer, communicates more clearly, enhances credibility and is more likely to go viral. You’ll walk away with techniques — not just what to do, but how — for painting pictures in your audience members’ minds so they understand your points faster, enjoy your information more and remember it longer.
At Master the Art of the Storyteller — a two-day creative writing master class on July 25-26, 2018 in Portland — you’ll learn how to bring your messages to life with storytelling, wordplay and metaphor. Specifically, you’ll learn how to:
- Grab Attention With Feature Stories: Craft creative leads and kickers.
- Make Your Copy More Colorful: Engage readers with fun facts, juicy details.
- Play With Your Words: Spice up your headlines, leads and sound bites with wordplay.
- Master the Art of the Storyteller: Tap ‘the most powerful form of human communication’.
- Add Meaning With Metaphor: Clarify complex concepts with analogy.
- Edit, write, repeat: Bring your laptop and a story to work on, write and rewrite, get and give feedback, and leave with a totally rewritten piece.
Learn more about the Master Class.

Browse all upcoming Master Classes.
Would you like to hold an in-house Make Your Copy More Creative workshop? Contact Ann directly.