I went to the Taste Festival in London the other week (if you’re thinking of going next year, it was a collosal, pretentious waste of money).

But one of the companies promoting its wares there was Gü, the people who make those nice puddings you can buy in Sainsbury’s. Not exactly Michelin-starred cuisine, but very nice nonetheless.

I just got around to visiting the company’s website. I was immediately irritated by the gimmicky use of the umlauted ‘ü’ wherever a ‘u’ or ‘you’ would normally suffice. Check this out:

“So over to ü! Just upload ür masterpiece here and get ür friends, family, neighbours, people in the street, long-lost Facebook friends… (ü get the drift!) to vote for ü. Ü can view all the entries in the Gallery and see who’s currently in the Top 5 on the right here.”

Honestly, it’s hurting my eyes just to read that. Stop it. Right now.

I don’t honestly know if the ‘ü’ within the name of the company is an affectation or not (the company website suggests the name’s origins are in Belgium). Either way, the use of the letter like this is quite ridiculous.

I suppose it’s an attempt to be quirky, friendly, and echo the brand throughout the promotional copy. But actually it comes off as clumsy and makes the text less readable because your eyes jolt each time they run into a ‘ü’ in an unexpected place.

I can’t imagine it’s particularly screenreader or search engine friendly either. In all, a big thümbs down.