Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Decent vs Spectacular


In Dublin this weekend I spotted this promotional ad for a new store. It really stuck out to me because in the upper left and right hand corner was a sign for "The Decent Cigar Emporium," the store right next door that was still open. The contrast between the "Spectacular New Shop" and "The Decent Cigar Emporium" made me laugh. Then it made me think why anyone would name their store as "decent." Possibly decent has a better connotation in Dublin than it does in America. I doubt that however, since the other store was called "spectacular." Perhaps the store is telling the truth, as Sue Unerman suggested. I cannot be sure as I did not go into the Cigar Emporium nor do I smoke cigars to know the difference between a decent and great cigar. This was just an interesting advertisement to me due to the juxtaposition of the contrasting adjectives.


2 comments:

  1. Perhaps this is a difference in how the word decent is used? I continue to be confused when waiters and other service workers use the word alright as a way to ask if I need anything. If not a communication problem though, the cigar shop owner must be very forthcoming in how good his cigars are. This might be taking Sue's "truth in advertising" concept a bit far.

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  2. That is interesting! It made me think about instances that we see in America that are similar to this. The first one that comes to mind is the "OK Cafe" in Atlanta. I understand that it's a cute and easy name to remember because it rhymes. But even though the name has a nice ring to it, it always made me question its service and food. In fact, I still haven't been there just out of pure skepticism. I wonder how The Decent Cigar Shop's business is doing and if there's anyway to tell if its name affects its retail.

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