I was recently involved with a corporate retreat for marketers and was amused by the jargon I heard in the warmup session, including:

• boredom busting
• a light and airier eat
• laddering up
• slice and dice the consumer
• cut up the consumer
• the consumer
• need states
• more simplistic taste profiles

Once we had a chance to interact in a less formal setting I found them to be very personable, great storytellers, curious about people and the world, open-minded, funny, and everything great you’d want in someone that is honestly trying to satisfy needs. But why, then, does this horrifying lingo emerge so prominently when they are forced to strut for each other?