Flashes of Panic

You would think that the marketing dross of the dot-com boom days would have washed away with the stock prices. But there’s one little buzzword which is working away on my head now like my ski boots on my feet.

“Powered by.” There’s a relatively rational, if bothersome, use of it on this front page, in the default text by which I admit that I’m using Movable Type to manage this site. It’s relatively accurate in the sense that the site relies on MT to function; however, if I want to be pedantic, I should point out that the real motive forces are myself and you, the readers; without us, MT just sits there and waits to be called. And, if we were really crediting software for driving the site, we should also nod to Apache and MySQL, which are equally as integral.

Anyway, you see that little tagline all over, even when it’s not strictly true. What’s really abrading me now is the weekend’s upcoming track meet, the Powered By Tyson Invitational.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, a track meet with an adjectival phrase as the title sponsor.

I’ll admit that Tyson, factory-farm producers of more chicken, pork and beef than anyone else in the USA, might have a better claim on “powering” the meet than most software makers can claim. Forgive me if I don’t find that an excuse for such a clunky meet name. Any time you need to use an article (as above) the sentence structure goes beyond un-lovely and reaches silly. It also does nothing to correct anyone’s stereotypical image of Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The other day we were discussing how any internet business name should be able to become a verb (i.e. Google, Netflix.) Now I’m thinking it should also make an elegant title sponsorship. When my startup hits it big, I will sponsor this meet. It will be called the “Grammatically Correct Title Sponsor Invitational.”

Maybe it’s the cold medicine making me loopy. (Or, maybe I’m just using the medicine as an excuse?)

Now Playing: Black Boys On Mopeds from Bob On The Ceiling by The Nields