Thursday, August 04, 2011

DealChicken | Chicken s**t, and other no-no's

Has there ever been a Gannett project that's produced more bad puns than the company's new online daily deals site? (Its mission: "To bring you the freshest Grade-A deals, each and every day." Ugh.)

But I hear some puns are, in fact, off limits -- plus certain words that don't reflect well on the service or its merchant offers. One such proscribed word is "cheap,'' which is making an appearance right now in a promotion from Indian restaurant The Dhaba in Phoenix: "Today’s delicious deal is so cheap you’ll think you’re paying in rupees!"

Related: Debating the ethics of editorial employees promoting DealChicken.

What other words are banned? And who's got a copy of the Guidelines for Puns? I'm sure many Gannett Bloggers would like to read them. Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

12 comments:

  1. How about "cheep cheep?" As in the sound chickens make. Would that be OK?

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  2. I love the Chicken. Bought some shoes at half price yesterday. I dig what the Chicken's got cookin!!!!!!!

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  3. I got two pairs of shoes for 1/2 off today too but there was no chicken involved.

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  4. 5:58 Oooh snap.

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  5. Wow. Not only bad but culturally insensitive. This is the future of Gannett.

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  6. They should really talk to the 'tap that' geniuses over at Digital - has anybody heard if there has been ANY fallout or change in direction from that ivory tower of weak 4th grade humor?

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  8. Not for nothing, but if DealChicken is so great, then how come it's not offered on Gannett's newspaper subscriptions? A subscription at half price MIGHT bring people back thus increasing the circulation.

    DealChicken!
    So great, that Gannett themselves doesn't offer it on their product(s)!

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  9. Am I the only one who immediately thinks of Chicken Little when Deal Chicken is brought up? Because Gannett workers who've been through this over and over sure know the real motto should be, "THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING!"

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  10. 8:56 - not enough people would sign up and it would never 'hatch'.

    You can have half off momslikeme.com though. Pick which half.

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  11. @8:56 a.m. I bet at least 85 percent of the workers at my site don't subscribe to the paper, and they can get it half price. Doesn't say much for the product, does it?

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  12. @ 3:32 PM and 4:27 PM

    ROFLMAOOOOOOOOOOOO

    8:56 AM does raise a good point though, in that -

    If DealChicken IS so great they why doesn't Gannett offer the Deals on their OWN products?

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