22 May, 2008

Scoot On In...

"SCOOT ON IN FOR CHECK UP"

So says the roadside marquee at Hume Veterinary Hospital (at Eubank and Comanche, in Albuquerque).

You might think it's strange that Hume has, in my mind, a notorious reputation for displaying bad puns on their marquee, but I think this is the perfect example. I mean, what do you think of when you hear the word "scoot," when paired with a place associated exclusively with dogs and cats? Think about it: What are dogs doing when they "scoot"?

So...why in the Hell would you want to bring this imagery to the mind's of your potential customers? Why would you choose the word "scoot," when there are innumerable (and less, um, visual) alternatives still implicitly associated with animals (i.e., dash, trot)? ...I just don't get it.


(Just to be sure it wasn't just me, I did a Google search for "dogs+scoot", and the top results included pages titled 'Why does my dog scoot his butt across the floor?' and 'The Anal Sacs Page'.)

(I understand that this pun may actually be intentional--that is, they want to remind you of your dog wiping his butt on your floor, in order for you to bring your dog into the office to help it. But, seriously, is that really necessary? Even, ahem, diarrhea medications [like Pepto Bismal] have the decency to not allude to the physical act of...well, you get the picture.)

(Any reason to write about dogs is reason enough to post a picture of pugs in costumes.)

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