I think these are just more examples of the evolving homogenizing and globalizing forces in a shrinking world. Regional diversity and truth of place are losing out.
For instance, I've noted local place names starting to be slaughtered in
local commercials on TV. OK, so New England is famous for names that are pronounced "difficultly" for visitors (or sometimes even locals*) - "Leominster" is pronounced "Lemminsta" not "Leo-minster", "Worcester" is "Wustir" not "Worchester", etc. But locals should have it down.
But when local car ads start using obviously non-local voice overs, it is a bit much -- a long time local-family-owned Toyota dealership has been recently running ads for their place in Woburn with a slick "midwest" voice-over exhorting folks to visit them in "Whoah-burn" -- I'm sure the locals cringe to hear what should be pronounced "Wooooburn" said like that. Sure, the Toyota production crew probably recorded 200 local-customized variants on the ads that day ("what's the next one on the list?"), but how did the owners let the mistake get past their review?
*The really tough one for locals: "
Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg" - most just give up and call it Webster lake.
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