The Great GIF/JIF Debate

Forget the presidential debates. The longest running debate has to be over the pronunciation of the acronym GIF. Is it “giff” with a hard G or “jiff” with a soft G? Ask pretty much anyone and you are sure to hear a solid and probably passionate argument for one way over the other.

Now peanut butter brand Jif and its agency of record PSOne (a subsidiary of Publicis) have jumped head-long into the fray, again igniting the question around how to pronounce the highly popular looping graphics that populate almost everyone’s social feeds and text message strings. In my mind, it’s a brilliant and clever move that unites an age-old brand with a hip and happening demographic.

Plus, the social content has been hilarious.

What’s your thought? Does this “controversy” hit the mark or just contribute to the din of the internet?

And in case you’re wondering – because of course you are – I am in the “giff” camp since GIF stands for Graphics Interchange.