Newsletter
The brand new superteam are aiming to revolutionise typography, as well as racing.
Words by Cycle Sport staff
We’ve had an email from Trek.
It goes…
“Hello all,
It’s been an exciting week for Trek as we announced our co-title sponsorship of LEOPARD TREK. The anticipation behind this launch is understandable, considering the fire power in the roster. There will undoubtedly be a significant portion of media coverage surrounding the team as the season kicks off next week at the Tour Down Under.
Please follow these naming standards when referring to the team in the media:
- The team name is LEOPARD TREK. Please do not insert the word “Team” before LEOPARD TREK, in writing or conversation, as that is not part of the official name.
- Please do not hyphenate LEOPARD TREK.
- In written communication, LEOPARD TREK must be set in all caps.
- In spoken communication, please use the appropriate pronunciation: LAY-oh-pard Trek.
INCORRECT: The new Team Leopard Trek includes…
CORRECT: The new LEOPARD TREK team includes…
INCORRECT: Leopard-Trek was presented to the media…
CORRECT: LEOPARD TREK was presented to the media…
INCORRECT: Trek announces sponsorship of Team LEOPARD TREK…
CORRECT: Trek announces co-title sponsorship of LEOPARD TREK…
Thanks for your help in establishing the proper team name standards. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.”
We have drafted a reply as follows:
Dear Trek,
We won’t be capitalizing the name of the team in our magazine, nor on our website.
We hope this helps.
Yours, etc.
Cycle Sport
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All caps?? Makes it seem like they’re always yelling at fans!
Team ‘Lion Treck’ it is then!
What’s the problem with that? Hey Cycle Sport get a life.
Phil can’t even say Liquigas correctly, although I find Leakygas to be charming. I doubt this will be done as directed either.
I’m thinking Team Train Wreck…
Team LAY-UP-HARD TRICK is it?
Since when has that been the correct pronunciation of leopard anyway? Hilarious pomposity from Luxembourg!!
Marketing 101, don’t do stupid crap the public doesn’t care about. Bravo CS!
Team Lay-o-tard by the sounds of it.
Already the cuckoos on CNF are having a field day with the team name !
Even kindly comments to these mushrooms meet with attempted stomping, reminds you of petulant children tossing their toys about. Twittering as skippydetour and found as Parrabuddy by google feel free to contact me.
Having met many of the team in their former teams it is understandable they have been ranked No 1 by UCI , Stuey & team will be out next week to justify this honour !
GOOD HUNTING GUYS !
Dear Cycle Sport,
Please don’t be insulting your readers’ intelligence by publishing what is obviously an internal memo with the parts that make this clear (“there will undoubtably be a significant portion of media coverage” “when referring to the team in the media”) still there.
regards,
Just to clarify, Lisa, the email was sent by a member of Trek staff to our tech department. If it’s in the public domain, that’s their issue, not ours. It’s certainly not our job to go back to anybody to ask permission to publish something they’ve sent to us.
Edward Pickering
Deputy Editor
Cycle Sport
cYCLEsPORT, why would you not want to comply with LEOPARD TREK’s request? Just to be a dick? Stop being childish & grow up.
Oh please, all caps? What were they thinking? And nice attempt to get the rest of the world to pronounce leopard like they do in Luxembourg, where they have no leopards last time I checked.
How about naming the team after some indigenous carnivores – or does Least Weasel Trek not have the same ring to it?
Two amusing details about the release:
1 They ask for the word ‘team’ to be excluded yet the release is peppered with it throughout (8 times in all). At one point they almost make the mistake themselves ‘The team name is LEOPARD TREK’. There should have been no mention of the word at all.
2 The name of the sponsorship arrangement is a proper noun anyway so there’s no need to capitalise, or shout. As if one would capitalise away from design anyway, it just puts people off.
Thanks CS.
Could not believe it – they’ve actually done it themselves ‘Team Leopard Trek’ three times in their own release and once as a related link reference.
http://tinyurl.com/6c7zj6s
This is just laughable. AND! THE MEDIA SHALL NOT REFER TO THE TEAM AS uhhh team leopard trek. NO! WE ARE NOT CALLED TEAM. WE SHALL NOT BE GIVEN HYPHENS AS HYPHENS SUGGEST WE COME SECOND TO THE LEO-PARD! AND WE DO NOT!
Lepud-treck. Okay, got it.
@Austin: ever been outside of north america? It’s hilarious the way those foreigners speak, worth the trip abroad alone.
What never ceases to amaze me is the incredibly misplaced ethnocentrism and ignorance of north americans.
Is it just me or does it sound more like the name of an adventure holiday firm or a muesli bar than a cycling team?
@Andy Schleck (it is you isn’t it Andy?)
If you’re commenting on their xenophobic shortcomings it would probably be better to say ‘some North Americans’ – otherwise you’ll be tarring yourself with the same brush you’re tarring all of them with. Or something.
I prefer LEOTARD TREK anyway.
Elsewhere, hundreds of Marketing Professors are collectively suffering from shat pants.
It’s interesting to see this point of view. I can’t say fore sure if I agree or not, but it is something I will think about now.
t one point they almost make the mistake themselves ‘The team name is LEOPARD TREK’. There should have been no mention of the word at all.
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web design
OH!!! I thought it was just Phil Liggett mispronouncing names again. Good to see he has it right – even though Lay o pard has it wrong! Good Grief. Guess things are not always leopard black (and white) in the pronounciarion world… glad I found this post.
haha what on earth.
THOU SHALL KNOW US AS LEOPARD TREK!!!11
I wonder if the X-Men ever sent the same mail around, they sure act as if they are in the same league.