Any writer will tell you: if you shorten a quote, make sure it doesn’t actually change the quote’s meaning.
Obvious as that seems, it somehow escaped the marketing gurus who set up the Twitter account for I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter. The full name of the pseudo-buttery breakfast spread wouldn’t fit Twitter’s strict character limits. So, while the company’s hashtag is #ICBINotButter, the Twitter page goes by the shortened name “BelieveIt’sNotButter” (a very easy order to obey).
Blogger Mary Beth Quirk at the Consumerist reported this last week, after a reader named Sean brought it to her attention. But whoever runs the Twitter account apparently sees no need to change its name.
It’s not a particularly active account, either; it averages less than one tweet per day and focuses more on celebrity gossip than on advertising its own product. On Jan. 15, the account was unusually prolific, posting three tweets, all of them about that night’s televised Golden Globe awards: “2011 was a big year for so many stars! What are you most looking forward to seeing during tonight’s big award show?”
A very similar tweet went up on Feb. 20: “2011 was a big year for so many stars! What part of the award show this Sunday are you most looking forward to watching?”
The account’s followers—presumably people who very firmly “Believe it’s not butter”—have also been offered ethical challenges (“Family’s coming over for dinner…bring out the good dishes or use paper plates for easy clean-up?”) and helpful home decorating hints (“Is your kitchen in need of a makeover? Glam it up with new accessories & kitchen towels.)
“How would you make your kitchen more glamorous?” the account once asked. Whatever answer they’re looking for, it’s probably not “stock your refrigerator with quarters of genuine butter.”
Photo by Facebook
