When you use quotes, it’s no longer “real”

People often put things in quotation marks to call attention to them or make them seem to be more prominent or important. But those quote marks actually have the opposite effect.

When you surround a word with quote marks, it implies that you’re really not telling the truth.

If your ads say a bracelet has “real” diamonds or real “diamonds,” that tells the reader you’re trying to pawn off cubic zirconia. A restaurant with “homestyle” cooking makes me assume they dump everything out of cans. If someone’s a “great” guy, you’d rather not be around him.

You don’t need those quotes, and putting them around your words and slogans suggests that you’re not being entirely honest, so it’s actually hurting your messages.