« Reply #150 on: October 31, 2017, 08:04:42 PM »
I read it somewhere a long time ago. Perhaps it was to satisfy advertising standards or something.
That's a no, then.
I found this:
As with the famous Carlsberg ads (‘probably the best lager in the world’), the word ‘probably’ helps to ensure that our ads will not breach any advertising codes. The Committee of Advertising Practice advised the campaign that ‘the inclusion of the word “probably” makes it less likely to cause offence, and therefore be in breach of the Advertising Code.’
Ariane Sherine has said:
There’s another reason I’m keen on the ‘probably’: it means the slogan is more accurate, as even though there’s no scientific evidence at all for God’s existence, it’s also impossible to prove that God doesn’t exist (or that anything doesn’t). As Richard Dawkins states in The God Delusion, saying ‘there’s no God’ is taking a ‘faith’ position. He writes: ‘Atheists do not have faith; and reason alone could not propel one to total conviction that anything definitely does not exist’. His choice of words in the book is ‘almost certainly’; but while this is closer to what most atheists believe, ‘probably’ is shorter and catchier, which is helpful for advertising. I also think the word is more lighthearted, and somehow makes the message more positive.
Because apparently the omission of the word
probably would have been offensive ... to some
« Last Edit: October 31, 2017, 08:07:40 PM by Shaker »
Logged
Pain, or damage, don't end the world. Or despair, or fucking beatings. The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man, and give some back. - Al Swearengen, Deadwood.
