There's a special election today in Florida's 13th Congressional District. Former Washington lobbyist David Jolly is the Republican contender. Alex Sink, former CFO for the state and Gubernatorial candidate in 2010, is the Dem. The seat was held by GOP Rep. Bill Young, who died in October after representing the district for more than four decades. He was the longest-serving Republican member of Congress at the …
The Scoundrel’s Dilemma: When and How to Evoke Patriotism in Advertising
The great English writer Samuel Johnson once declared that, “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.” Johnson’s beef wasn’t with patriotism per se, rather the issue of it being coopted for the purposes self-interest. In the preceding several hundred years since he uttered the phrase, proof of Johnson’s quote is still readily seen in many pockets of society. Politicians often appropriate the love of country …
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Scarlett Johansson and Matthew McConaughey Are Pretty And They Smell Good
A 2011 survey conducted by BlogHer and co-sponsored by global communications firm Ketchum found that bloggers’ endorsements wield more influencing power than celebrities. I suppose this could be true in certain instances, but let's look at the following instance, a dramatic long-form ad from Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana. Why hire Martin Scorsese to direct Scarlett Johansson and Matthew McConaughey …
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This Week In Advertising
"Writing, like life itself, is a voyage of discovery." -Henry Miller This week in advertising a lot of people spent a lot of money. Zambezi in LA is putting out a top-drawer email newsletter. #highlyrecommended Newsweek is back in print. The new luxury experience for $7.99 appears on newsstands today, March 7, 2014. Supermodel Miranda Kerr takes it off for Reebook. Post by …
Howard Roark Drives a Cadillac ELR—So Can You
American exceptionalism is a strange concept to build a car commercial on. Even for Detroit. It makes me think the Koch brothers are financing this new Cadillac ELR campaign, covertly of course. How else to account for the brazenness of the socio-political speech? Cadillac and its agency, Rogue (a group culled from three IPG agencies—Hill Holliday, Lowe and Campbell Ewald) want to stand out and this work …
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Remembering Tom McElligott And A Classic Style Of Advertising
Over at his Stuff From The Loft blog, Dave Dye asks, "Hands up Who's Heard of Tom McElligott?" I'll bet 97% of today's advertising students and people with less than 10 years of experience in the business haven't. Tom McElligott was one of the driving forces behind Fallon McElligott Rice (now just Fallon) and a man who was a definer of what some people called the "Minneapolis style" -- where clever headlines were …
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This March, Use Interactive Game 13 Unbracketed To Boost The Madness
Editor's note: My friend and colleague, Gale Venosdel, has convinced me to re-emerge here to help spread the word about his new online game, 13 Unbracketed. As someone who knows just how much a side-project can mean to an ad guy (and how much work goes into one), I could not resist his request. March Madness is coming. Get ready with 13 Unbracketed, a new interactive game that offers a compelling alternative to …
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Can Marketers Ever Publicly Embrace Privacy?
I always feel like I'm straddling both sides of the marketing equation. Because I'm a consumer, too, and often things hit me like a consumer, not an advertising copywriter. The increasing ability of marketers to collect reams of information is particularly concerning to me. Not because they can, but because they simply don't know what to do with all the information and can't be trusted to use it wisely. Most …
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