How would you feel if your favourite brand called you bae?

Personally, I cringe whenever someone I know dares utter the term – even if they’re doing it ironically I will lash out with violence and they will suffer.

For companies, words are a really useful weapon, and many have cottoned on to the fact that talking like a real person is far more engaging than using dry, corporate and jargon-filled language. But when does conversational language go too far?

Can brands use colloquialisms and abbreviations? What about text-speak and swear words? It’s a huge topic, so with just a few examples of brands getting it right and well and truly wrong, here are a few ways to ensure modern-day slang stays cool and definitely not cringe.

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