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#becauseitschristmas? Asda needs a visit from the #GrammarPolice
I’m a big defender of Asda, but I have to say I’m a little disappointed in their new Christmas ad campaign. And it’s all because it lacks a character.
The advert itself is fine (if you haven’t seen it yet, you can do so here). I like that it isn’t in the same category as John Lewis or Sainsbury’s in terms of tugging at the heart-strings (although I’m still happy for Monty the Penguin). It’s not an emotional rollercoaster. It’s simply about Christmas, and that’s great. That’s what I love most about Christmas.
There’s just the small manner of the hashtag…
#becauseitschristmas
Even just looking at it makes me feel a bit sad. Not because it’s all lowercase (although there is an argument that it should have a capital C for Christmas), but because it needs an apostrophe between “it” and “s” and then it’s technically perfect. But then it isn’t.
#becauseit’schristmas
Doesn’t sit well on the eye, does it?! It looks awkward – and it reads even worse on Twitter. Based on this, I’m guessing Asda made the call that the tiny little apostrophe can be dropped, and the hashtag is certainly more aesthetically pleasing than without. But it still irritates grammar pedants such as myself. So how about…
#becauseitischristmas
No, that’s far too formal. It’s not very cool to say “it is”, and it certainly doesn’t trip off the tongue.
So as simple as a hashtag might seem, choosing the right tagline for your social media campaigns isn’t an easy decision. It needs to be something punchy, yet simple, which looks good on the eye.
With that in mind, I’m starting to think that Asda might have got it right after all. Not sure I expected that.
Perhaps Ive overthought about it. Maybe I dont need apostrophes in my life anymore…