November 30, 2009

Master Jedi Copywriter Luke Sullivan Speaks.

Luke Sullivan from Mediastash.tv on Vimeo. Via adland.

If you still don't own Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This, it's time to get yourself an early Christmas present.

Posted by John on November 30, 2009 at 09:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Advertising , Books , Branding , Opinion , The Creative Life , The real world

November 26, 2009

Rudolph - And not the one you're thinking.

Posted by Tug McTighe on November 26, 2009 at 07:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Categories:

November 25, 2009

We're thankful for you. And the Muppets.

Stay with it till the end. I promise you it's worth it. Happy Thanksgiving from us and ours to you and yours.

Posted by Tug McTighe on November 25, 2009 at 01:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Brands

November 24, 2009

PETA says "Don't eat a turkey this year." I just say, "Pass the gravy."

Sheesh PETA, this spot's righteous indignation is at about 50 and I need it closer to 4.

For the record, I have no problem with vegetarianism. (I myself dabbled in it. Not in 'Nam of course.) It's just that I just don't want to be made to guilty for taking part in something as American as Thanksgiving.

*BuzzFeed is reporting that NBC won't air it.

Posted by Tug McTighe on November 24, 2009 at 09:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Opinion

November 19, 2009

American Copywriter #65 is Hot.

The Crotchety Old Edition

That's right, episode 65(ish) is out and available for your listening skills. Don't diss, check it out posthaste. Make sure you're subscribed (or resubscribed) on iTunes.

Notes:
0:00 Juno Music and Titles
3:27 Interlude I: Wakarusa
5:23 Police Academy Noise Mouth Guy
9:00 Deutsch Wins VW. Tug channels Jason Elm.
13:38 The Point of the Story
16:05 Taylor Swift etc.
20:56 Interlude II: JJ's Halloween
22:25 Holiday Creep
27:00 Lights on!
30:16 Done

Posted by John on November 19, 2009 at 09:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: AC News

November 10, 2009

My day-to-day life in 5 simple words.

"Strawberry Flavored Juice Drink Blend"

Take a second and read them again. Done? Good. Let's proceed.

These words appear in the photo below (centered, just above the tree line) and on the front of every Strawberry Capri Sun pouch being produced at the moment. But why do they resonate so well with this young copywriter? Well, let's think about how they were created:

It all started when Mr. Capri Sun asked Mr. Junior Copywriter's agency to come up with a name for the contents of his exciting new drink pouch. Ms. Account Coordinator then wrote up a job order, asking him to give an exciting new name to this fantastic, life-changing product.

Mr. Junior Copywriter knows that the target doesn't have time to stop in the grocery store and read a lot of copy, so he decides to call this drink "Strawberry Juice." He thusly types up the copy doc and sends his words over to Ms. Account Coordinator for approval, satisfied with a job well done.

So imagine Mr. Copywriter's surprise, then, when he comes back to his desk 10 minutes later (because a job well done deserves a fresh cup of coffee) to find Ms. Account Coordinator waiting for him, recently-reviewed copy doc in hand.

"What's up?" Mr. Junior Copywriter says.

"Well, I saw your copy," replied Ms. Account Coordinator "and I think the client isn't going to like it."

"Really? What's not to like?"

"Well he told me that he wanted something that's going to be exciting and tempting. I just don't know if this is enough. He kept saying something about comparing this drink to wine."

"What about, like, Strawberry Juice Blend"

"Oh my god that's perfect! Can you put that in a copy doc on the server for me? I'll send it over and see what Mr. Capri Sun thinks."

"Sure."

And so Mr. Junior Copywriter does indeed edit his copy doc and save a new version to the server, now a bit annoyed, but hey -- he's got fresh coffee, so life ain't all that bad.

Now fast forward to several months later. Mr. Junior Copywriter has forgotten all about Strawberry Juice Blend. Until, that is, he's called to a Strawberry Juice Blend touchbase meeting. Upon walking into the conference room with his 17 other meeting-mates, he's greeted by a sad-looking Mrs. Associate Account Executive (ah, Ms. Account Coordinator is moving up in the world!). She says that after countless months of sitting around doing next to nothing, Mr. Capri Sun consulted the legal department, and they have a few concerns.

"Like what?" says Mr. Associate Copywriter (who is not currently moving up in the world).

"Well everybody liked the copy overall, but they don't think we can say 'Strawberry Juice Blend' because the drink is not technically juice."

"Well can't we just call it something like 'Strawberry Juice Drink Blend'? It sounds a bit awkward, but I don't really see a better way of getting around that one, unless we can take out the word 'Blend' and just say 'Strawberry Juice Drink'."

"I wouldn't recommend taking out the word 'Blend'. Our focus groups say it makes the product sound premium." chimes in Mr. Research Nerd.

"*sigh* Alright. 'Strawberry Juice Drink Blend' it is. I'll get you a copy doc in a few minutes," replies Mr. Junior Copywriter, as he gets up to get a fresh cup of coffee in advance for his job well-done.

"Oh sorry, but there's one more thing," says Mrs. Associate Account Executive. "Legal also said that since there isn't a shred of actual strawberry in the drink, we have to call it strawberry-flavored." 

"What? Isn't the world 'Strawberry' in big splashy letters on the pouch already a bit misleading then?"

"The client doesn't seem to think so. He was pretty adamant about this one."

"Whatever. I'll get you a new doc shortly," says Mr. Junior Copywriter.

"OK. I told Mr. Capri Sun we'd show him something by 4:00."

"It's 3:58."

"I know the timeline isn't ideal, but files have to be to the printer by tomorrow morning."

And with that, Mr. Junior Copywriter makes his way back to his desk, making sure not to forget that fresh cup of coffee. Later, after 1.92 minutes of staring at "Strawberry Flavored Juice Drink Blend" in disbelief, Mr. Junior Copywriter saves, prints, and routes the new copy doc. 

And just as Mr. Junior Copywriter returns to his desk from dropping his copy off with traffic, Mrs. Art Director approaches and says "Hey Mr. Junior Copywriter, wanna get a fresh cup of coffee?"

"Fuck that," Says Mr. Junior Copywriter. "I need a beer."

Posted by Nick Kinney on November 10, 2009 at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBack (0)
Categories:

November 04, 2009

Attention Media: Quit fucking trying to terrify parents.

Jesus. Fucking. Christ. Am I sick and tired of the media's constant attempts to scare the shit out of us. The latest target: Rice Krispies. Seems they've got an added antioxidant claim on their box. (Antioxidants, if you didn't know, are being pimped hard lately because they theoretically help keep you from getting sick by strengthening your immune system.)

But what really chaps my hide about this situation is this quote from a USA TODAY article.

"Kellogg, based in Battle Creek, Mich., said it has heard very little concern from consumers about the claim, but is responding to concerns in the media about the timing of this front-of-the-box claim and the swine flu outbreak."

So what the media is saying, I guess, is that consumers may get confused into thinking that if they feed Rice or Cocoa Krispies to their children, the little ones won't be susceptible to H1N1 (from now on referred to as "The Hinny") thanks to the added AOX.

"Very little concern" from consumers. But the media went and made a stink, getting their column inches and their way. (If you're looking for journalistic integrity somewhere in here, you'll need to keep on looking.) Now Kellogg is bowing to the pressure and is removing the claims from their packages, a lengthy and costly proposition to be sure. It's Rice Krispies for shit's sake -- they've got a few boxes of cereal out there.

So, to recap – consumers don't seem to be worried about it but some media outlet can run a nothing story and end up costing a corporation hundreds of thousands of dollars and likely a good amount of negative PR.

Seems like a load of partially-digested Krispies to me.

Posted by Tug McTighe on November 04, 2009 at 03:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Opinion

November 03, 2009

An Era Ends as Cliff Freeman & Partners closes

If you're a Gen Xer ad creative, then, like me, as you read the news yesterday about the passing of heralded agency Cliff Freeman & Partners, you most likely felt a terrible pang of loss over this agency and the work it created.

Because, you see, when Cliff & Co were in their heyday, I was in my truly formative years in our business. I was soaking advertising up and was striving to learn everything I could about who was doing what, where they were and how they were doing the kind of work I could only dream of.

When I first learned about Cliff & Co, I had no idea how they could come up with the stuff they came up with and really had no idea how they got it out of the agency, let alone past the client. Then I learned a little something about the man who had his name on the door.

It started in the 80s with Wendys (Cliff worked on this before starting the agency) and led to the amazing run with Pizza Pizza, and even kept going into the late 90s with lots of dot com work. Back when we started at SHS, JJ and I watched the Outpost.com stuff over and over again. As Paul Diamond would say, "Fuh-nee."

Now I know that lots of stories out there are citing the fact that Cliff & Co struggled to reinvent themselves out of a great TV agency into a great -- digital or whatever we need to call ourselves today -- agency. I get that. But the power of the brands and the work that they created back is undeniable.

All that's left to say is "Thank you. Thank you."

Holy crap, I totally forgot about this one!

Posted by Tug McTighe on November 03, 2009 at 04:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Advertising

October 29, 2009

Booking an Audio Session: So true, it's almost not funny.

Thanks Marty.

Posted by Tug McTighe on October 29, 2009 at 03:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: The Creative Life

October 27, 2009

Uh, hey Microsoft, have you ever seen an ep of "Family Guy"?

Attention Microsoft, if you don't want to associate your global brand's new product with stuff like pedophila, making fun of guys in wheelchairs and the diabolical escapades of a baby that's trying to kill his mother, you may want to find another promotional partner.

Seriously, how the fuck did they ink this deal without knowing the content of the Family Guy? Promotional Fail to say the least.

Posted by Tug McTighe on October 27, 2009 at 04:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Advertising