One of the great things about working in the field of audio production, recording, sound-design, etc. is the exposure we get to writers, producers, directors and even clients who have really great ideas and a strong sense of how best to execute them. If that’s the Yin, then the Yang is that we also get to see the dregs of formulaic jargon that seeps it’s way into the cracks of scripts with even the strongest foundation due, almost exclusively, to client mandates.
Phrases like, “for all your banking needs”- y’know last time we checked we didn’t have a “banking need” other than perhaps needing one nearby that has…money.
Another great one is, “In the Twin Cities area see…” – that’s a classic faux attempt to sound local, which only gets worse when some big voiced announcer from L.A. trumpets out (with great confidence), “Uh-deena” or “Whey-Zeta” for Edina or Wayzata.
“You ain’t from around these here parts are ye, fella?”
Think about it – it’s a local radio ad. We know where we live – if we don’t know by now that we live in the “Twin Cities Metro Area”, we either have an education system resembling that of Arkansas, or we’ve been kidnapped from points beyond and are wedged in the trunk of a late model Buick somewhere in the P2 East parking lot of Mall Of America. So, if you’re trying to save lives of the kidnapped by telling them where to by a Lexus – we can only applaud your creativity.
There are many more examples of this, but the point in sharing these clichés is that we’ve seen some great methods of getting these things out of scripts while we’re in session. Writers on occasion have said to clients, “I can appreciate that you’d like that in there, but the script is already long and do you really believe it will help you sell more of your widgets?” Another great one was, “what is the particular benefit to the listener of that phrase – are we talking to them?, or just to ourselves? – we can do either, but with only sixty seconds, it seems we would benefit most by talking to your customers”. In both those instances, the client realized that the script was better left as is – leaving time in the spot for their important messages.
Line up for the two point conversion.
If you’re looking for more insight into this issue and how some really savvy people are successfully committing “clichéicide” – read this blog entry from the folks at radioloungeusa.com -smart guys.