Champagne and Wii, not made for each other
Keri and I had an interesting discussion last week. Well, I think it was interesting. I believe she thought it was pretty stupid. We’ll let you be the judge.
It started with a seemingly innocent story she told about having champagne while playing Wii. I would like to lay out my argument here for why I think champagne should not be consumed while playing Wii. It’s like this:
- Champagne is a pretentious drink. It is all bubbly and alcoholly, like a beauty queen at a party. Champagne is aloof, as if it’s better than all the other drinks. It sometimes hangs out with less fancy drinks like orange juice, but that’s just like celebrities doing charity work. It’s all about appearances with champagne.
- Wii is a down-to-earth, everyday, life-is-good type of activity. Wii is the guy who shows up at the party and brings the music everyone has been waiting for.
- These 2 activities don’t mix. Champagne is for the artifical inflation of events like baby showers and brunch at a fancy hotel. Wii is for celebrating the simplicity of life. Consuming the two together sends a confused message that our brains shouldn’t have to be subjected to.
Why am I posting this in a content blog? Another conversation Keri and I had recently was about the role of tone in representing meaning. I think part of my (admittedly tantrum-like) view on the champagne vs. Wii issue, is the words and what they represent.
Champagne has an elitist sound to it (but ironically comes from a French word that means “open country”). Wii, on the other hand, is a totally made up word meant to represent fun (and also work in multiple languages – see this article on the history behind this). Words have personas well beyond their meaning. I guess I just want those personas to mix with their own kind.
