(updated below)
Has anyone seen the Grey Power automobile insurance commercials recently showing on Canadian television? A smarmy male introduces an incompetent screaming ninny (usually female, but more recently male) who is behind the wheel of a vehicle by saying, “You don’t drive like her (sic).”
What he means to say is this: “You don’t drive like she does.”
Well, all right, I admit that I don’t know what the announcer really means to say, since he can’t speak English. He appears to be babbling some form of grade-school fractured english, most notably spoken by those of us who cut a lot of classes and who thought we were the brainiacs.
I queried Grey Power on the use of “their” English, and here’s what I received in return (paraphrased for simplicity, of course):
English teachers are not in agreement on the subject.
English and its usage is constantly changing.
At least that was grammatically correct.
If appealing to the lowest common grammatical denominator is good for business, then I say more power to Grey Power! As for me, I’ll continue to amuse myself with a company and its advertiser who doesn’t know how to use English, and to question how their written agreements might be drawn up.
“If you drive like him/her does, and never aks us no questions, they’ll be shure to have no claims, EVAR! Shut up.”
After all, English is in a constant state of flux.
UPDATE: Complain about those insipid, vapid, and idiotic commercials by Grey Power and its mother company, Trafalgar, here:
Or better yet, write them a letter.
Trafalgar Insurance Company of Canada
700 University Avenue, Suite 1500
Toronto, Ontario M5G 0A1
Toll free: (866) 464-2424
Local: (416) 227-6740