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This summer, the word "Shui Lingling" has appeared frequently on the Chinese Internet. "She came here so shuilingling" and "Shuilingling changed her new profile picture"... "Shuilingling" is used by a large number of netizens in different contexts on different social platforms. After looking at the phone for a while, "Shuilingling" is all over my mind. "Shuilingling" has become a hot topic in online marketing in the first half of 2024, and among users,"Watery and lively" is an attitude, everything can be "watery and lively"。

It can be seen that there are different popular words every once in a while, and the purpose behind these repeatedly invented popular words is probably marketing. "XXX is already the next level..." "Family, who knows the value of this mouthful of sticky food?" "My cerebellum atrophied the moment I sucked it into my mouth." "It's so delicious." "XX, you are so advanced" ... These Internet buzzwords born for marketing purposes have one thing in common:Simple, direct, and ambiguous, and even the text does not match the picture, but it can invade the entire Chinese Internet like a virus.

When a meme goes viral, people can see these words being used in different contexts on any social platform. These words have one thing in common: they are just expressions of emotions, and they overemphasize emotions. As for the semantics, they are ambiguous and even cannot accurately describe things. They can only be understood and adopted by specific people in specific memes.

If it is limited to marketing accounts, it is fine, but there is no limit to the use of language. As more people play with memes, you will find that people on social platforms mostly use these popular marketing copy to express their feelings. When serious expressions are replaced by viral, labeled, and formulaic marketing copy, all descriptions are distorted.

Some netizens have joked that according to the formula for hot copywriting given by the blogger, "Water Margin" has a chance to top the list of the four great classics if it says: "I was a thief for a year, how did the court reward me fiercely"; "Anna Karenina" was written as "Who understands! I really love this kind of girl! Please force yourself to be this kind of person in 2024!" It can be seen that the focus of marketing copywriting titles is on conveying extreme emotions rather than expressing meaning.The use of everyday language emphasizes the accuracy of expression, which runs counter to the purpose of marketing copy.

Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Manyi

It is undeniable that this simple, extreme emotional vocabulary is effective in sales, but people should also be wary of these popular copywriting invading daily expressions, otherwise they will find themselves at a loss of words when faced with food, beautiful scenery, expressing their moods, and describing things. They forget words when they pick up a pen, and they are at a loss of words when they use words. When they eat delicious food, all that remains in their minds are "super super super delicious", "my cerebellum is atrophied", and "glutinous". After being immersed in marketing copywriting for a long time, only some marketing account label phrases remain in their minds.

Language influences thinking.What’s worse is that if you immerse yourself in a single, extremely emotional word for a long time, you will have obstacles in understanding complex things, and you will be unable to understand complex texts. Only binary oppositions will remain in your brain, either black or white. Of course, to resist the invasion of these popular marketing copy into daily expression, it is still necessary to maintain the habit of reading, maintain the understanding of complex texts, and then be able to quickly identify the difference between marketing copy and daily expression.

Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Quanchao

There are too many writers who write about food and beautiful scenery, which are much more accurate than the words used in marketing copy such as "glutinous" and "cerebellar atrophy". Wang Zengqi described bayberry like this, "The bayberry they sell is very large, red and black, called 'fire charcoal plum', placed in a bamboo basket with fresh green leaves underneath." He described a bowl of porridge like this, "A pile of late rice fragrant glutinous rice - this kind of rice is specially used for making porridge. The porridge is cooked, and the rice is half an inch long, the color is light green like Biluochun tea, and the fragrance is strong."The text is not long, but readers can still imagine the taste of ripe bayberries and the fragrance of porridge through the text. This is also the power of words.

What I want to express here is not "everyone should use words like writers", but an aesthetic taste and aesthetic orientation - not using ambiguous and popular copywriting, but using plain words, which can also express accurately. People should not unconsciously be assimilated by similar marketing copywriting, but should actively try to understand complex texts.

Column Editor: Zhang Wu Text Editor: Song Hui Title Image Source: Shangguan Title Image Image Editor: Su Wei

Source: Author: Guangming Daily