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Given the chance what advice would I give to my younger self? Not that I...
The pots and pans say I’m domesticated… For an internal agency thought piece, I was asked to provide words of wisdom to me as a 22 year-old, just starting out in Adland. Others in gyro management were...
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Sweet but also strange. My reaction to resurrection of classic Altoids campaign.
Altoids, circa 1997 I wrote the above copy for Altoids in 1997. A year or so before, Mark Faulkner (art director) and I created the “Curiously Strong Mints” campaign for Altoids. The two of us would...
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Funny. As. Hell. Auto tune based on rescue of young women goes viral. Why are...
“Dead Giveaway” Auto Tune of Charles Ramsey As horrifying details continue to unfold regarding Amanda Berry’s abduction by lowlife, Ariel Castro many of us are also laughing our asses off at the Auto...
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Hard day at the office cannot hinder the splendors of big picture.
Beats taking the subway… I won’t lie. Today was not a banner day at the office. I’ve been struggling with a couple super tough briefs. (I guess that’s why they call it work.) I’ve no doubt we’ll crack...
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New media inspires social responsibilty in corporations (whether they like it...
Social media has effected how corporations behave. For example, the way it has cajoled (or in some cases coerced) big businesses into acting like nice people instead of faceless, corporate entities....
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Is “thinking out loud” the same as rambling? Shut up and listen.
A man of few words… I wish I talked a little less. There’s something masculine and right about a man of few words. And given my propensity to self-disclose and/or take another person’s inventory, I’m...
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Yours Truly hosting the Obie Awards in Los Angeles. An honor, a privilege and...
Feeling blue (in a good way) w/ local LA choir performing in background… Thought I’d reflect on my 15 minutes of fame hosting the Obie awards Tuesday night in Los Angeles. For those unawares, the...
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Cadillac’s head marketer blithely discusses pitch for his business. Prior to...
Happy handicapper, Cadillac’s Craig Bierley I’m not sure why newly appointed Cadillac advertising director, Craig Bierley chose to give an interview to Adweek about Cadillac’s agency review, which has...
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Back to Chicago: a meditation on nostalgia or as Don Draper called it, “the...
Chicago from my hotel, a visitor now. How are you with personal nostalgia? I’m definitely Love/Hate. For reasons I can’t quite articulate, I’m not always a fan of tripping down memory lane. Some...
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A creative’s ode to the right brain: “Connecting to the inner-fantastic!”
All righty then, let’s make ads! A while back a guest writer on AdAge, Lauren Warner took some heat for an essay she wrote about the briefing process. Among other things, she claimed one should...
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The fearless creativity of children: An ode to the “Beanie Boy!”
Nerd or maverick? A while back, in the Admiral’s Club at Laguardia airport, a youngster caught my attention. He was a regular looking kid, a bit disheveled in his ill-fitting blue sweatshirt and...
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Radio Days: remembering when summer meant listening to jams, good and loud.
Tuneage! This past weekend my wife and I went hiking near Point Reyes National seashore, one of many spectacular outings mere miles from our new home in Mill Valley. Anyway, we came across a small...
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In Adoration of the old Masters: art history and finding inspiration in Adland.
Stealing from the best… Recently, I was able to use a modest but working knowledge of art history in the formation of a creative marketing idea. How about that? Apparently, those “vanity” classes I...
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The penultimate selfie: Is Kanye West really the best 21st century can give us?
“The Michael Jordan of Music commands you to give me that trophy!” Recently, Kim Kardashian’s husband, Kanye West was interviewed by the New York Times. In the long article, Mr. West referred to...
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“While we’re young!” USGA beseeches players to speed up their game.
I’m not much of a golf fan and even worse a player but like a growing number of people I do watch some of the bigger tournaments. During the US Open last week I caught an hour or so of Sunday’s finish...
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World War Z: Why Brad Pitt’s zombie thriller is neither.
WWZ… WTF? Though I studied film in college, and wrote film criticism for three of my university newspapers, I don’t do movie reviews here. However, I do use movies as reference. Often. Personally and...
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The “ad-like object.” Tips for viewing creative work before it’s even born.
Ad = Baby We were previewing numerous campaign ideas today at the agency, perhaps a dozen of them tacked up in the wall, comprised of the usual bits: potential tag lines, assorted copy, found images...
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Clothes to die for: violence against women in fashion advertising.
“Make me write bad checks!” On Buzzfeed, the Copyranter recently ran this post depicting “the violent exploitation of women in fashion advertising.” Many examples were provided, from big name fashion...
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Apple and Motorola wave flag in new ad campaigns. But is it a white one?
O’ spacious skies! Motorola goes all American… Two huge consumer electronics brands have just launched advertising campaigns with patriotic themes, which makes a fitting topic for a post given the...
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Bracing for impact: our morbid fascination with plane crashes.
Icarus, falling from the sky… What is it about plane crashes that upset and titillate us so much? They are unquestionably tragic. But there is something more going on. There always has been. Fear of...
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