Whoo Hoo?

This will seem like splitting hairs to most readers but I am just not comfortable with Washington Mutual Bank's energetic new advertising campaign, which they spell Whoo Hoo.

Why? I am a Woo Hoo man myself. Until I saw this sign on my local branch last week I didn't remember ever seeing it spelled with an H in there before.

Was it just an error? A typo? I wondered so went straight home and Googled both spellings. Surprise!  Woo Hoo returned 381,000 results. Whoo Hoo? Try 793,000 hits!!!! So it looks like my people are in the minority.

Some interesting sidebars turned up in my investigation. Whoohoo.co.uk  is a British dialect translator. For instance, if you are  from Yorkshire you can now convert your email into Cockney.  There is also a feature to translate your note into Ali G speak!   

Children's music superstars  The Wiggles have an album named  Whoo Hoo! Wiggly Gremlins! 

One the other side, Woo Hoo is a 1959 rockabilly hit from a band called the Rock-A-Teens as well as a popular cover (Remember Kill Bill?) by the Japanese girl group The 5.6.7.8s.

More importantly, the great Homer Simpson has weighed in on this sudden until-now-unbeknownst -to-anyone controversy. And if it's good enough for Homie, it's good enough for me!

Comments

[brother john]

Congratulations! As a member of a clear minority you are now entitled to special accomodation. You may be eligible for tax breaks and active measures to ensure equal employment and educational opportunities. Clearly you are called to stick it to those "Whoo Hooers" and let them know that you WILL NOT be discrimintated against.

[Diane]

It never occurred to me to spell it without an "H" . . .

[IHeartBean]

I have always spelled it, "Woo hoo." The ads bother me too. I don't care that google showed more hits for the WaMu spelling. I will still spell it our way, Bean.

[liz]

OMG i thought i was a loner on that too. i saw their whoo hoo sign on the 22 west fwy and pondered the spelling. i've always spelled it woo hoo.

so WOO HOO to YOU TOO!

[Pocketwatch Fox]

Hrm. Not sure if I am finding the same results that you are Bean. When I Google "Woo Hoo" (with quotes) it gets over 8 million hits, while "Whoo Hoo" only gets 1.6 million. Further, 'woohoo' (one word) gets 13 million hits, and not only does 'whoohoo' get a mere 680,000 hits, but Google asks 'Did you mean woohoo'? Score!

Oh my God, I am such a nerd.

I have bigger issues with Washington Mutual though. 'WaMu'? It sounds like something that should be on Nickelodeon.

[Kate]

I worked at a WaMu, (until the robbery), and they think of themselves as more of a "retail" banking experience for us in the middle class. And this "Whoo Hoo!" business is just them trying to be cool. Can you blame them?

[Joanna]

I assume they don't want you to think Homer Simpson is their spokesperson. In any case, it's a lame-ass campaign.

[Janet]

Saw the "whoo hoo" sign yesterday, it drove me nuts. Homer has it right.

[Jennifer Thomas]

It seems to me that Washington Mutual is trying to gain popularity through the outrageously popular slogan that Homer has coined. It actually makes me mad that a bank would make more money off of something so pure as Homers "Woohoo." They should be sued anyways...for fun...

[stace]

if you think about it, WHO is pronounced "HOO" so shouldn't WHOO be pronounced "HOO" too? it should really be WOO HOO unless they want it read "HOO HOO"

i just confused myself.

[Suzy]

Stace has the strongest argument. plus, it simply looks better without an "h."

I am a Woo Hoo woman myself, but spelled either way... "WaMu" needs a better advertising team. that's the lamest campaign I've seen in a while. and what the hell is up with "WaMu" in the first place???! gag me.

[Raul]

I saw the Whoo hoo sign on my 2 hour drive to work on the 210 freeway and was like WTF

I think there are two differences though...

1. Woo Hoo is the Homer type of way to say it. I believe a majority of people say it this way and probably will continue to do so

2. Remember a hip hop song that went Holler back youngin Whoo hoo? You can clearly hear the Whoo hoo version in the song where you can't in Homer's version.

I think WAMU is trying to cater to the young folks to get banking with them so they thought "Hey! Lets get that really cool hip hop song from 5 years ago and make it our new slogan...if you feel me holler back youngin whoo hoo!"

I agree with Bean. Another woo to the hoo

[Jennifer]

Thank you for posting this - I cannot tell you how upset I get everytime I see Whoo Hoo. I'm sorry but Woo Hoo is the only appropriate spelling.

[Fred G]

I'm with Homer and Bean based on the use of the letter "C".

Coo Coo Clock.
Choo Choo Train.

[Mimi]

Am I correct when I say that your Washington Mutual bank resembles one of those trailers that overpopulated California schools install? P.S.: this is the ONLY blog I have ever consistently visited. Thank you for being hilarious!

[Jarred]

What the hell is going on at the trademark office? They should have laughed at WAMU and told them Woo Hoo or Whoo Hoo is not trademarkable.

[Molly]

Bean~

If you go to Yahoo.com & you type in:

Whoohoo - you get 923,000 results

WooHoo - you get 15,500,000 results.

I'm not quite sure where your #'s from, but it is pretty obvious that WooHoo is the better way to spell it. I mean if Wamu took a look into the English language they would see that we have a word spelt who and the

Pronunciation: \ˈhü, ü\

So technically there sign's Pronunciation should be:

\ˈhü, ü\ hoo

[patsy]

woo hoo it is

[Ryan]

The more I listen to you, the more I realize I'm like you. That then makes me realize I'm not as self-aware as I lead myself to believe because I've always been under the impression that I'm relatively normal. That's not just amusing or interesting, but fundamentally terrifying.

I, too, have a problem with the "whoo", especially when spoken out loud. It's awkward. Is it pronounced "wuh-hoo", or is it like a regular "who" with an extra long "o"; which wouldn't make sense because it'd essentially become "hoooo-hoo", and that's just retarded. Phonetically, "whoo hoo" doesn't make sense.

So basically, eff you for being like me, and eff everyone else for thinking that's weird.

[Matt]

I saw this ad and thought the exact same thing. I'm a Woohoo guy too.

Also, I've always thought that with a name like WaMu, they should TOTALLY be setting up some sort of sponsorship with Sea World. "Weighing in at over 5 tons, this...is...WAMU!"

[MartinZ]

Ha! This just means that the majority of people can't spell it correctly! Screw the "H". This extra letter turns "wuu" into "who" or "who-oh". Nothing like a big company advertising their ignorance!!! I cringe every time I see it.

On the other side, I see that they Trademarked it. Maybe they had to add the "H" since Woo Hoo could not be trademarked.

[Jason]

Wonder what the results would be if you eliminated the results related to WaMu?

[Mike B.]

Hey Bean, hope all is well.

As a self-described wordsmith, this WaMu campaign has really irked me as well. I recently stumbled across a CNBC article, though, that appears to have elucidated the issue. It turns out that it was related to Homer J. after all. In order to avoid any potential conflict, especially in the wake of the movie, and, in order to be able to trademark the WaMu slogan, the "H" was added.

Here's the link: http://www.cnbc.com/id/23827081/

Bean, you may be strange but you're hardly alone. Keep up the vigilance for the English language or we'll end up with a lexicon in which "biannual" can mean "twice a year" and "once every two years" at the same time.

Link: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/biannual

Oh, wait; that already happened? Sweet.