Warning : Don't Drink Grammar at Old Town White Coffee !

Gentle Readers

Never mind the grammar error in the use of reported speech in this "Yum Cha" ad that appeared in The Star of Monday 12 November 2012. Go savour the robust flavour of freshly-brewed coffee at Old Town White Coffee kopitiam.

Is this is an instance of the copywriter exercising his creative licence to break grammar rules for effect and impact? The man in the ad should have said: "The doctor said I wasn't sick enough to be on medical leave." Perhaps the copywriter's use of the present tense is deliberate as it reflects a common mistake in Malaysian English. The practice of employees taking MCs - medical chits- is a common complaint of Malaysian employers. I suppose the combination of Malaysian English and the MC culture has the effect of helping (Malaysian) readers identify with the ad campaign?

Waiter, give me a cuppa!

This NOKIA Lumia banner ad is seen stretching above the road outside Kuala Lumpur Megamall's North Court. In my opinion, this ad copy has made clever use of the idiom "run in the family", which is more commonly used to refer to people. As an example, when you say this to a Miss Malaysia contestant that "beauty runs in her family", you're not only saying that she's beautiful but also that it's a common trait in her family. As the banner ad is about Nokia's Lumia, it has the effect of tellingly suggesting to anyone who sees it that Lumia is a work of beauty and that "beauty" is a common trait in the Nokia family.

Business Proposal Writing

What can we learn from this advertisement?

"What has inspired countless Haiku poems will also inspire you".

What can business proposal writers learn from this Malaysia Airlines advertisement which appeared in local dailies just a few days ago? What's the purpose of this ad? Obviously, it's using haiku, the famous form of Japanese poetry, with presumably Sakura cherry blossoms to entice newspaper readers.The choice of the soft pink-white petals with the beckoning golden yellow filaments could induce in the readers a spring-is-in-the-air mood.

For the business proposal writer, are you able to make your readers see or feel what really matters to them: providing a solution that will solve their problems and bring them the benefits they desire? Will you be able to help them visualize the problem-benefit equation?

Yet, I don't feel quite persuaded by the ad. How many Malaysians out there really know about the Japanese haiku? It's like you put out an ad in China with this line against a picture of our hibiscus flowers: "What has inspired countless pantun poems will also inspire you". Just as the majority of Chinese will not be able to relate to the pantun, it makes me wonder how many Malaysians can relate to the haiku.Why not just show us a famous haiku poem written about the famous cherry blossoms? I would say the cherry blossoms are more well-known than the haiku. Anyway, how can one be so sure that what has inspired countless haiku poems "will also inspire" us?


For the business proposal writer, I would say: make sure that your readers can relate to the solution or idea that you are trying to sell them. For example, avoid using jargon that may confuse them. Do not assume that just because you are the specialist in your field, your readers should know the subject matter as well as you do.