embarrasing erroneous stress

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

In a message dated 10/30/05 11:28:59 AM, wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM writes:


> The post-World War I shoulder patch of the Army's 1st Infantry Division 
> consists of a large red numeral one on a dark, five-sided ground. A new computer 
> game based on the campaigns of the  in WWII is called after the Division's 
> allusive public relation's name, "The Big Red One," which was also the title 
> of a 1980 war film directed by 1st Division veteran Sam Fuller.
> 
> As one might expect, the phrase in question is customarily stressed as "Big 
> Red ONE."  But TV commercials touting the game stress it as "Big RED One."
> 
> This blunder (does anybody use the synonym "boner" anymore?) reminds of me 
> of an allusively satirical slogan circulating during the Vietnam War, "If you 
> have to be one, be a big _red_ one."
> 

A useful example for Linguistics 101!