Now With No Added Sugar?

Heck, if you think French grammar is confusing! Shouldn’t this be ‘Now Without Added Sugar’ ? How can it be ‘with’ something it hasn’t got?

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but what does “added” mean anyway…there is already a non-quantified amount of the sweet white stuff and they haven’t added any more ???

Yes, Simon. But in the ad world they’re looking for impact. They want people to home in on “No added sugar”.
“Without added sugar” doesn’t have the same kick.

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Plus, ad writers’ minds are pre-programmed to write positive. ‘With’ is positive word, so With No is a positive statement=good advertising. ‘Without’ is a negative word, so Without Any is a negative statement=bad advertising. It might mean the same thing but the message is different.

That’s not really my point. It’s about stating that something is ‘with’ something that it hasn’t got!!!..get me?

I don’t think it’s any good trying to parse adverts in the normal way… but even outside of adverts, would you not agree that ‘I arrived at the station with no time to spare’ is more effective than ‘I arrived at the station without any time to spare’? And that Clint Eastwood’s character “The Man With No Name” has more of a ring to it than “The Man Without A Name”?
Sorry, but the more I think about it, the less I get you. I don’t see a problem with “with no”, it’s a perfectly good alternative to “without any” IMHO.

I presumed that no added sugar meant that there was no sugar, other than that in the fruit, in the yogurt. It’s not sugar free but no extra sugar has been added to alter the flavour.

‘No added sugar’ is functioning as a semantic unit, like ‘extra vitamins’ or the like, so it makes sense to say ’ now with no added sugar’ or ‘hooray at long last with extra vitamins’ etc.
Doesn’t stop it being hideous.

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So that would make the equivalent in French - Maintenant Avec Sans Sucre Ajouté or Maintenant Avec Pas De Sucre Ajouté…

I know what it means - it’s simply the English grammar I’m highlighting! :slight_smile: Maybe I’m pi**ing in the wind - it certainly isn’t sun stroke this month!!!

Yep - I’ll go with that @vero! As you say - hideous! I saw the TV ad last night and it just struck me as really odd. I imagined trying to explain it to an English language student!

I think the French equivalent is “avec aucun ajout de sucre” - which in fact is used.

I think that they no longer add sugar so the product has changed, it’s now with no added sugar. I’m sure they never advertised it with added sugar in its previous format and doubt that the price has reduced now the sugar is no longer added. Personally I prefer black coffee when it has no added milk. It’s all about being blinded by information and we all know that added sugar is bad so therefore those yoghurts must be good even if they taste of nothing and have the consistency of slime.

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In French it is easier as maintenant doesn’t need anything after, it is just ‘sans sucre ajouté’ :arrow_right:’ maintenant sans sucre ajouté’. I suppose it is particularly jarring because it is a negative which you don’t expect, generally, after ‘with’. Actually in English they could get around it by putting ‘new’ rather than ‘now with’, with a colon after it but I expect that’s fancy-schmancy punctuation and doesn’t have enough impact. Or something :wink:

That arrow wasn’t meant to look like that, it was supposed to be plain black, pffffff

New!! Extra slimy no added flavour no real fruit yog-a-like with no added sugar, just watch their faces as they taste it, ugh they will chorus, where’s the sick-bag…

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Yep - I get that David. It’s the issue about stating that something is ‘with’ something that it hasn’t got!!! If you get me…:wink: It’s a grammar thing, not a comprehension thing. You know when you begin to wish you’d never started something…?:slight_smile:

sans sucre ajouté :wink:

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I know Andrew I was just trying to demonstrate the equivalent (daft) literal translation :slight_smile:

I think it’s advertising jargon rather grammar Simon. Fancy that we’re getting nothing as an added extra I’ll buy some straightaway!

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Anyway… unlikely to see the French equivalent ad down here in the deep South! Low / No sugar products are as rare as rocking horse sh1t - just row after row of supermarket aisles full of sugar filled products! Even sugar free / diet / lite drinks are in short supply - be it in the shops or bars / restaurants. It’s almost as if sugar is used as a population control mechanism down here - to fatten em up and slow em down. Also explains why it’s so difficult to spot anyone with a full or decent set of teeth!! :slight_smile: