We Slow

First there was the Chevy Nova. Urban legend has it that General Motors experienced poor sales of the vehicle in Mexico and other Spanish speaking countries because the name translates to “doesn't go” in Spanish. Incidentally, I was surprised to learn just now that the story actually isn't true. According to Snopes.com, “This is another one of those tales that makes its point so well — just like the apocryphal one about George Washington and the cherry tree — that nobody wants to ruin it with a bunch of facts.” But then they went on to do just that. 

Today's Dick's Sporting Goods ad for other
inexpensive running shoes: the
Nike Downshifter and the ASICS Unifire

And then there was the Nike Attempt II. My daughter Veronica and I noticed this in a Kohl’s ad a while back. I explained that the major running shoe manufacturers sell their high-end models to running specialty stores, but make less expensive ones to sell at lower prices at retailers such as Kohl’s, JCP and Dick’s Sporting Goods. But the name, Attempt just sounds kind of funny for a running shoe. According to the definition, it implies "an act of trying to achieve something". Seems like a running shoe ought to be associated something just a little bit more than only an attempt. And since this one had a Roman Numeral 2 for a suffix, it wouldn't even be the first time one has tried it. I have just noticed that I wrote about this in an earlier blog post. Sorry for the duplication, but I couldn't resist. 

Ad in today's Walmart flyer for a We Slow Treadmill

Today I saw a Walmart ad for a Weslo Treadmill. Yes, I’m aware that Weslo is the name of the manufacturer and not the model. And yes, I’m also aware that it’s one word and not two. But if it were two, it would sound an awful lot like, We Slow. Now who would buy a treadmill that implies that we, the buyers/users are slow?

Not me. And it's not that I am not slow, especially these days. It’s just that I would never admit it.