Some think buzzwords

This morning I saw an advert on TV for Credit Suisse - some sort of Swiss bank. You can watch the advert too by following the link to “TV Spot 2” on their current ad campaign page. The ad consists (much like the pdf’s on that afore mentioned page) of a statement: ‘some think …’, followed by a redefinition in their terms: ‘we think …’.

What left me gob-smacked was that each alternative they presented was essentially a buzzword. Their redefinitions changed a simple meaningful phrase into meaningless corporate drivel. The worst is by far this one: “Some think two generations. We think succession planning”.

Maybe I’m being a bit harsh, but why are they using buzzwords as the basis for their marketing campaign? Who goes for this sort of stuff?