Word Watch:
Talk About Killer Creative

It's no secret that advertising often resorts to shock tactics. But when advertising shocks, it's usually intentional on the part of both the ad agency and the client. This time, however, Word Watch isn't so sure.

As the Boston Sunday Globe reports, "when IBM's consulting group shelled out for an eight-page advertising insert in The New York Times [in November 2002], they must have forgotten to hire an editor." This advertising insert, according to the Globe, lauded IBM's "executional talents"—and in bold type, no less.

We can't—and shouldn't—clamp down on all emerging buzzwords or try to keep the English language from evolving. But Word Watch finds itself in agreement with the Globe: "Unless they're offering to whack your criminal CEO, [IBM] should keep this business buzzword locked in the back room."