Less emissions, not less style - Grammar Court


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Is Volvo's "Less emissions, not less style" grammatically acceptable?

Volvo's logo

Volvo's slogan

The Charge:	The word "less" should be replaced with "fewer". Less is used for a single item (e.g. less smoke); whereas, "fewer" is used when there is more than one item (e.g. fewer emissions).

Defence Defense Case:	Nearly everyone says "less" before a plural noun these days. The grammar ruling above is outdated. Moreover, the effectiveness of this advertisement relies on repeating the word "less".

Prosecution Case:	Rules are rules, I'm afraid. You may have noticed that lots of people say "you was" instead of "you were". Does that mean it is grammatically acceptable? Imagine an insurance company's advert that read: "I was insured. You was insured." Could they claim that is grammatically acceptable because the effectiveness of the advert relies on repeating the word "was"? I think not.

Judge Grammar Monster's Decision:	Mmm, this is a difficult one. I have already judged that Starbucks and Asda are guilty of committing grammatical errors by using less instead of fewer. However, I am not bound by precedence, and I believe that Volvo has a strong case for using less. I do not think the "you was" example is a fair comparison because "less + [plural noun]" is much more widespread. I also think that the effectiveness of this advert relies heavily on repeating the word "less". One shouldn't be too proscriptive with advertisements. They are designed to catch a reader's imagination - not showcase the writer's intellectual prowess. I judge Volvo's slogan to be acceptable.

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See also:

Starbucks "less napkins"
Asda's "less bags"

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