Occasionally, I come across great writing that I just have to share. Most of the time, it’s a newspaper article or a blog post. Today, it was something printed on the shoebox lid of my new CAT boots.
Caterpillar is a global manufacturer of construction equipment. You may think you don’t know the company but I bet you recognise the logo. The marketing of their licensed footwear conjures an image of rugged adventurers and explorers, echoing the history of one of America’s most iconic brands.
Finders, seekers … risk takers. It makes me want to jump into my boots and set off into the hills and forests.
But there’s more to the message than the initial inspiring text.
(Earth) Movers and Shakers
For my German readers, ‘Earthmover’ literally means a mover of earth. It is another way of saying an ‘excavator’. What every German child excitedly calls a ‘Bagger!’ when they walk past one on the street.The term ‘movers and shakers’ is used to describe powerful and influential people. The people who affect change. It comes from the poem Ode by Arthur O’Shaughnessy, a British poet of Irish decent.
Whoever had the idea to combine these into “Earthmovers and shakers” deserves a big pat on the back. It’s very clever wording and a great mental image. The rest of the powerful message is reminiscent of the original poem.
My compliments to the CAT boots marketing team and their copywriter.
Ode
We are the music-makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers
And sitting by desolate streams;
World losers and world forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems
