Violence in my Vitamins

Violence is embedded in our discourse, Vivanne Jabri told us during her visit to our school this fall. We cannot "fight" it out there, it's in our words. I sort of understood what she meant at the time, yes we have violent shows on TV and violent toys. But I REALLY got what she meant when I picked up my vitamin bottle (see left) and saw the following text...

CoQ Enzyme 10 is "A POWERFUL WEAPON in supporting heart health" - My goodness, it's a vitamin. I don't need a weapon for heart health, I need exercise, a good diet, and happiness. I was frankly a little stunned seeing that use of the word weapon.  It would be much nicer to reach for the bottle and see "Good morning, I am here to support your heart health. Have a great day"  or even "COQ 10 is a wonderful way to support a  happy healthy heart' 

I'll take clever alliteration over violence any day.  So maybe Jabri is right, the place to start "global intervention" is here, right in my refrigerator.  So here goes my breakfast activism. 

Here's the email I just wrote to Nature's Bounty:

Hello Team

I love so much that you do. Thanks for the health promoting vitamins. 

Important comment, I'm a PhD Candidate in Conflict Resolution studying the Language of Conflict-- we are finding that violence in our daily language really has an effect on violence in the world. I know you're for a more peaceful planet which is why I wanted to point out to you that your CoQ 10 bottle has some violent language that I ask you to please consider changing. 

The bottle says "Q-Sort Co Q10 is a powerful weapon in supporting heart health"

There's really no need for  "a weapon for heart health" in fact, the language does not even make sense. A weapon fights something or attacks something. The sentence isn't really logical. I suggest

 "COQ 10 is a wonderful way to support a  happy healthy heart' 
Or
"CoQ, working hard to support your heart health"

Thank you for your consideration. I think much more  good can come to you and your company if you become aware of the power of language in supporting a healthy happy planet as well as healthy happy hearts.

---