So in the past two weeks, we've seen a couple of spots go for a disguised profanity joke. And they're getting attention. First, the Kmart "Ship My Pants" spot: And now, the Philips Norelco "I'd FAQ Me" spots: As I learned when I wrote this Talent Zoo column about cursing, clearly there's something about cursing, or the hint of it, that gets attention and publicity. But are these spots taking the …
Can Analog Thinking Shake Up Our Digital World?
If you're a rock fan, I highly recommend you check out "Sound City," a new documentary about a legendary LA recording studio that was all analog. No one denies the power of our new digital tools to make great music, but in the movie we hear musicians lament the brilliant imperfections of old-school recording methods. Is it the same way for advertising? In a world where the first thing we do is jump on a …
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Super Bowl Spots: Jeep Versus Dodge RAM And My Dual Reaction
Here’s the one and only question I’ve been pondering about last night’s Super Bowl TV spots: Why was I instantly smitten with the Dodge RAM “So God Made A Farmer” spot but thought the Jeep "Whole Again" soldier tribute spot was crass and exploitative? I'm speaking of my immediate, visceral reaction to both commercials, which I hadn't seen prior to the game. Perhaps it was the rhetorical power of …
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Advertising Is Full Of Sinners. Now We Can Confess.
Pride. Sloth. Envy. Wrath. Lust. Gluttony. Greed. What would advertising be without them? We all have those dirty, secretive thoughts we have during meetings or concepting sessions, or when we're alone at our desks. Now, creatives David Ma and Nick Hugh Schmidt are letting you confess. And then be judged. Enter yours at The Creative Confessional. Every confessional can be voted on, either to "absolve" or …
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Marketing Buzzwords I’d Love To See Gone in 2013
I'm quite the admirer of George Carlin. No one dissected the modern English language so astutely the way he did. Particularly when it came to colloquialisms and phrases we all use. Writing for Talent Zoo, I've attempted to do this myself a few times over the years with the language of marketing and advertising: On Killer Books and Hard-Hitting Executions The Importance of Filtering Actionable Jargon Into …
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Quantify This: Poor Advertising Research Costs The Industry $2 Billion A Year
This is another in a series of posts from Portlander Peter Levitan, a former ad agency principal and Baby Boomer with a new book out about Boomers "offing themselves" before they go broke. In the mid-90’s I left the security of Saatchi & Saatchi and joined Advance Publications to create and launch New Jersey Online, one of the first online newspapers. A year later we had site traffic equal to the New York …
Unique Piece of Americana For Sale in Cottage Grove
Old advertising on barns is an acquired taste, but once acquired people can become passionate about an installment, as if the work in question is public art, not advertising for a product no longer available. Maybe it is art. It's certainly collectible, that part goes unchallenged. Such is the case in Cottage Grove, Oregon, where fans of barnvertising have attempted to save the “Dr. Pierce Barn,” …
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They Don’t Make Ads, Or Their Copywriters, Like These Anymore
Read Tom Messner's great tribute to Curvin O'Rielly. Curvin passed away over the weekend. Some of his more notable work included these Saab ads, done at the Carl Ally agency: They're clever, convincing, and sell a car most people thought was simply weird. Who would concept these today? Who could write these today? Who could art direct these today? What kind of client would approve these today? We've long …
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