Don’t quote me on that please

What are we to make of the recent comment that Debbie Gorski has left Barclays to “spend more time with her family” (MW March 7).

Has she actually been pushed out? Or is she moving to the competition and it is being kept quiet? Or maybe she really has decided that she wants out of the rat race. We’ll probably never know because those inverted commas mean, in effect: “Big lie coming up – we hope you’ll believe it but we don’t really think you’re that stupid.”

So, in the same issue, Paul Simons is “maverick” – for which we read “didn’t do what the big bosses wanted” – and Motorola are targeting “stylish adults” – which automatically means that they want customers with class and money, but are reconciled to the fact that most of their actual customers will hope that a “swivel phone” will make people think they have class and money.

Persil Revive, meanwhile, is “underperforming”. At least that’s clear: the product is a dog and Unilever has pulled the plug.

Sony Ericsson is supporting its phone with a “limited amount” of TV advertising. None, then? Or perhaps the budget is just so poor that the marketing manager is embarrassed to give details.

Whatever the case, could we all please stop using these inverted commas and just tell the “truth”? Whatever that is.

Francesca Broson

Director

Omobono Business Communications

Cambridge