Alan Siegel sent out a press release claiming that the recent “uproar among Facebook users [over terms-of-service changes] will lead to a transformation of turgid, impenetrable online contracts into readable documents.” Further, “the days of consumers blindly signing whatever is placed before them are over.”

And I’ve got a house-broken adult male chimp I’d like to sell you. He’s great with kids.

To be honest, I’m 100% on board with Siegel’s aims. The chairman of brand consultancy Siegel & Gale is also the founder of the Plain English and Simplification movement and coauthor of “Writing Contracts in Plain English.” There should be awards given out to folks like Siegel who fight against the complete corporatization of the English language. We should incentivize such people!

Siegel’s absolutely right. Legal contracts are larded with language that is so beyond comprehension that consumers don’t even bother to read them. Know what else is larded with puffed-up “language” that is usually both useless and grammatically incorrect? The advertising and branding industries. Ideas for sequels to “Writing Contracts in Plain English”: “Writing a Memo in Plain English”; “Writing a New-Business Proposal in Plain English”; “Writing a Copy Deck in Plain English”; “Writing Your 25-Page Rebranding Proposal in Plain English.”

Ideate about that for a moment while I concept the rest of this post.

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Analysts say that the demise of Baugur in the UK should pass by relatively unnoticed by consumers. Fred Burt, managing director of brand consultants Siegel+Gale, adds: “For all Baugur’s financial woes, it has a good sense for retail brands. That is why Baugur’s brands all feel distinct, relevant and deserve their place on the high street.” Nick Bubb, a retail analyst at Pali International, says that the group has “a real hotch-potch of interests, but the iconic status of House of Fraser and Hamleys in particular means there will be a lot of takers for what’s up for grabs - all down to the strength of these well-known brands.”

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“That kind of wording is not really providing any useful information,” said Irene Etzkorn, director of simplification practice for the consulting firm Siegel + Gale, llc., in New York. The firm recently completed a survey that shows many people say a lack of clarity contributed to the murky Wall Street dealmaking that contributed to the global recession. In short: Firms weren’t clear when they described how a deal worked and investors were too timid or greedy to figure it out themselves. Improving clarity can help rebuild trust, Etzkorn says. Considering they were at the forefront of downfall by failing to forecast problems in many cases, ratings agencies could stand to benefit by writing more clearly about potential risk and reward, she said.”They are under increasing scrutiny for the legitimacy of their ratings,” Etzkorn says. “By weasel-wording, I think it only erodes the confidence.”

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