Iceland was supposedly given its uninviting name to discourage immigration to it; Greenland, its inviting name to attract. So the story goes about these decoy names, and whether true or not there is a principle behind it, which Frank Luntz explains:
Words can make a difference when you are trying to get the public to pay attention to a problem. For years, the Republican Party tried to get the public–-and politicians–-to do something about the “estate tax.” This was a tax to be paid from an estate when it was passed on to heirs. The Republicans argued that this constituted double taxation on people’s earnings and was unfair on its face. However, the public seemed to associate the word estate with wealthy people and apparently felt that the wealthy had too much money anyway, and maybe they got it from coupon clipping, not real work.
Republican consultant Frank Luntz proposed a simple solution: Call it a “death tax.” This simple word change did much to increase public sympathy. Luntz found in his polls that, although a narrow majority would repeal an inheritance or estate tax, an overwhelming majority would repeal a death tax. Presumably it seemed really unfair to penalize people for dying.
(Quoted from page 31 of Social Marketing in the 21st Century, by Alan R. Andreasen. Sage Publications, 2006.)
For a brief biography of Alan R. Andreasen, click here. For images of or relating to Alan R. Andreasen, click here.
For a brief biography of Frank Luntz, click here. For images of or relating to Frank Luntz, click here.
Words can make a difference when you are trying to get the public to pay attention to a problem. For years, the Republican Party tried to get the public–-and politicians–-to do something about the “estate tax.” This was a tax to be paid from an estate when it was passed on to heirs. The Republicans argued that this constituted double taxation on people’s earnings and was unfair on its face. However, the public seemed to associate the word estate with wealthy people and apparently felt that the wealthy had too much money anyway, and maybe they got it from coupon clipping, not real work.
Republican consultant Frank Luntz proposed a simple solution: Call it a “death tax.” This simple word change did much to increase public sympathy. Luntz found in his polls that, although a narrow majority would repeal an inheritance or estate tax, an overwhelming majority would repeal a death tax. Presumably it seemed really unfair to penalize people for dying.
(Quoted from page 31 of Social Marketing in the 21st Century, by Alan R. Andreasen. Sage Publications, 2006.)
For a brief biography of Alan R. Andreasen, click here. For images of or relating to Alan R. Andreasen, click here.
For a brief biography of Frank Luntz, click here. For images of or relating to Frank Luntz, click here.
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