A punctuation mark for when you’re mildly enthused

By {/%BYLINE%} {%AUTHOR%}Alan Pearcy{/%AUTHOR%} {%TITLE%}A punctuation mark for when you’re mildly enthused{/%TITLE%} {%ALTERNATIVEURL%}{/%ALTERNATIVEURL%} {%IMAGE%}/Uploads/Public/elrey-mark.jpg{/%IMAGE%} {%ROLE%}87d65c27-6e78-4e5c-b423-78d47d4f2768{/%ROLE%} {%KICKER%}Writing, Editing{/%KICKER%} {%CATEGORIESID%}e8e0f32d-5d24-41be-86cc-a8fd29cc4619, 055d8a23-ee23-4f9c-a2f4-df030843f312, 9b04de1d-f7bc-4de7-842e-c9c833ff24e9, 5b5f5480-7a63-458a-90a4-0b98007ec3f7, 1fd4d0a9-bbe2-4b5c-af5c-11dce5b9983e{/%CATEGORIESID%} {%CAPTION%}The ‘ElRey’ is neither as excitable as the exclamation point nor as dull as the period. Would you use it? Plus, the battle of news blogs vs. newspapers, a Twitter trolling poetry publisher, ‘Today’ kills the ‘Harlem Shake,’ the Tamagotchi’s return,, more.{/%CAPTION%} {%BODYCOPY%}Every weekday, PR Daily associate editor Alan Pearcy highlights the day’s most compelling stories, amusing marginalia on the Web in this, #TheDailySpin. Destiny’s Child didn’t perform “Say My Name” at the Super Bowl; Obama’s State of the Union address completely threw off my Tuesday evening line-up of sitcoms;, the only thing delivered to my apartment for Valentine’s Day was a GrubHub order. My point: I can’t remember the last time I was Jessie Spano excited about something. Yet I abuse the exclamation point multiple times a day. If only something fell on the punctuation spectrum that was somewhere between that enthusiastic go-getter, the straight-faced period. Thanks to Ellen Susan, there is. It’s called the “ElRey,” which Observatory says emotes positivity, but saves us from “communicating with the unhinged emotionality of a note slipped between junior-high students.” RELATED: Your guide to the history, nuance of punctuation Rolling with it a bit further, BuzzFeed suggest a couple additional punctuation marks to convey snark. Newspaper editors never shy away from issues of improper punctuation, but for Dave Murray of the Toledo Blade, the issue is one of credibility. After Deadspin’s Doug Brown scooped the Blade on a story, Boing Boing reports that a public feud between the two outlets quickly broke out. That disagreement centers on what readers should trust more: print publications or bloggers? RELATED: Public’s distrust for media grows: Why? Apparently, newspaper editors aren’t the only ones in publishing who feel more overtly combative than usual. According to Techdirt, someone at Press Inc.— allegedly a division of Knopf Publishing—was trolling Twitter under the now suspended username @copyrightdept while threatening users with legal action to anyone tweeting a short poem by poet Shaun Shane without attribution. Maybe Press Inc., was just agitated, because it passed on what turned out to be a great work of writing. Not sure about Press, but that was the case for at least five publishers that gave hilarious reasons why they rejected classic bestsellers, according to Cracked.com. Knowing I passed on “Harry Potter” would certainly cause a few sleepless night as a publisher, but I’d be more vexed if I was the client in this next sorry. Frank Jonen, who runs a small Web design company, hijacked the site of Fitness SF, replaced it with an angry letter that claimed it hadn’t paid him for his services. Fitness SF disputes Jonen’s claims. RELATED: 5 ways to your get new client to ‘fall in love’ with you There’s no disputing that sponsors are scrambling in the aftermath of Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius’ murder charges. As details emerge, perhaps no brand had reason to act speedier than Nike. SB Nation noted an eerie gun-referencing ad by the athletic company that featured Pistorius with the copy: “I AM THE BULLET IN THE CHAMBER.” Advertising Age reports the ad has been pulled. Like Nike’s ad, the “Harlem Shake” is officially done, or so contends The Daily Beast. And as was the fate of so many online memes before it, the cast of NBC’s “Today” was who did the trend in: RELATED: “Harlem Shake” dances into viral history As one trend falls, another rises to take its place. Bandai announced plans to revive its popular virtual pet brand Tamagotchi as a new mobile app. RELATED: 3 ways to tap nostalgia for PR, marketing Meanwhile, it was also announced that the U.S. Justice Department cleared the proposed merger of Random House, Penguin, creating what would be the biggest book publisher in the world. Another record setting merger is that of American Airlines with U.S. Airways. An $11 billion deal between the two carriers would make it the world’s largest airline, although as PBS reports, there are other crucial numbers that must be considered. All I know is if it doesn’t mean the most patriotic Presidents’ Day promotion, the companies’ merged marketing departments aren’t doing their job. Speaking of Presidents Day, you might be surprised to learn just how many of our country’s leaders were entrepreneurs, inventors. InTheCapital highlights seven. Is there something you think we should include in our next edition of #TheDailySpin? Tweet me @iquotesometimes with your suggestions. Thanks in advance. {/%BODYCOPY%} {%ID%}13859{/%ID%} {%DATAID%}920d1fa6-a54b-4db5-9cb9-227d83a2caaf{/%DATAID%} {%CanonicalUrl%}{/%CanonicalUrl%} {%PUBLISHDATE%}2/18/2013 2:48:32 PM{/%PUBLISHDATE%} {%LINK%}https://dev.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/13859.aspx{/%LINK%} {%BYLINE%}John McElhenny
Feb. 18, 2013