The green sign reads “Please don’t leave empty boxes here. Bring them to the bin outside”
No it doesn’t. It has a bad slogan in big font: “If we all unpack here, we can all pack up” (the idiom probably works if you squint hard enough). Then “Please don’t leave waste paper (carton) in the self-service-zone. Carry your empty package to the container. The environment will be just as happy as us”.
It does not say where the container is (despite the definitive article in English, it’s not implied that there even is one at location), nor does it have relevant information in large letters, just lots of fluff. It’s accessively passive-aggressive, trying to give the impression that it’s all polite while simultaneously ordering you around. Trying to invoke social responsibility while completely ignoring that that’s a two-way street: Where’s the fucking container? You had one job with that sign, and you failed.
Here’s what would work: Big: “Waste paper container is around the corner”. Small: “Please. Thanks”. You don’t have to convince people, you just have to make it convenient and they’ll be happy to carry their stuff five metres instead of playing carton Jenga.
Also they’re using “Packerl” for package that’s probably Austria. Maybe Switzerland it’s not like I’m a specialist in mountain gibberish. Also not enough yellow for a Deutsche Post shop.
Also they’re using “Packerl” for package that’s probably Austria. Maybe Switzerland it’s not like I’m a specialist in mountain gibberish.
As a native speaker of mountain gibberish I can tell you that’s not ours. Either Austria or maybe Bavaria. Their gibberish seems similar to me sometimes.
Austrian and Bavarian gibberish indeed is the same, one tribe, different states. The rest of the sign isn’t in Boarisch though so in Bavaria you’d expect it to be completely in Standard German. Bundesrepublik Standard German, that is, not Austrian Standard German with heuer, Jänner, Paradeiser, and whatnot.
No it doesn’t. It has a bad slogan in big font: “If we all unpack here, we can all pack up” (the idiom probably works if you squint hard enough). Then “Please don’t leave waste paper (carton) in the self-service-zone. Carry your empty package to the container. The environment will be just as happy as us”.
It does not say where the container is (despite the definitive article in English, it’s not implied that there even is one at location), nor does it have relevant information in large letters, just lots of fluff. It’s accessively passive-aggressive, trying to give the impression that it’s all polite while simultaneously ordering you around. Trying to invoke social responsibility while completely ignoring that that’s a two-way street: Where’s the fucking container? You had one job with that sign, and you failed.
Here’s what would work: Big: “Waste paper container is around the corner”. Small: “Please. Thanks”. You don’t have to convince people, you just have to make it convenient and they’ll be happy to carry their stuff five metres instead of playing carton Jenga.
Also they’re using “Packerl” for package that’s probably Austria. Maybe Switzerland it’s not like I’m a specialist in mountain gibberish. Also not enough yellow for a Deutsche Post shop.
Nailed it!
If you assume that people actually want to do the right thing if it’s easy, and then you make it easy, it usually works.
Even when this isn’t enough, it should still come before anything else.
As a native speaker of mountain gibberish I can tell you that’s not ours. Either Austria or maybe Bavaria. Their gibberish seems similar to me sometimes.
Austrian and Bavarian gibberish indeed is the same, one tribe, different states. The rest of the sign isn’t in Boarisch though so in Bavaria you’d expect it to be completely in Standard German. Bundesrepublik Standard German, that is, not Austrian Standard German with heuer, Jänner, Paradeiser, and whatnot.