Florida Sheriff's Office Has Fun with Spring Break News
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Thanks to Bambi Van Horn at University of Nebraska at Kearney for sending this example of fun communication. Imagine living in sunny Walton County, Florida, anticipating mobs of students on spring break. The sheriff’s office wrote a press release and a funny Facebook post to prepare the locals.
The post starts with background and a few similes and metaphors:
Like Voldemort in Harry Potter where everyone just whispers "you know who.”
Spring break. It even tastes like vinegar to type it.
One thing is certain, the green will be seen.
Now that we've skipped over the denial part of the grieving stage, the next is acceptance. "You know what" is coming. But, when?
They want to prepare. Like some sort of zombie apocalypse
The writing style is engaging:
We are also heavily interacting with high school-aged kids whose parents bring them while on break and let them wander around and make poor choices in the moments they look up from scrolling Tiktok and Snapchat. Which they do. Don't we all at some point in our lives?
Of course, the information has to be useful for the writer to achieve the communication objectives, which students can identify. At the end of the post is a list of dates when people might expect crowds to appear from schools.
Humor is difficult to convey in writing, particularly for a public audience and, as the writer says, an oddly political issue. The post is a good example for students to analyze.
