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Between addiction and love live our obsessions. Some thoughts…
Been thinking about obsession. Not Calvin Klein’s perfume from the late 80’s. Though it is a fitting digression, seeing as Obsession was a quintessential icon of the greed decade, which actually does...
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Which hat do you wear and when? Getting it right (and wrong) in the age of...
Recently, I was asked by a colleague to take down a Facebook post because it apparently offended someone in the office. I had offered a less than politically correct view on the hot button issue...
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The holidays are too damn loud. Take a moment and chill.
A pine before the lights and ornaments… A while back Chicago Tribune writer, Barbara Mahany wrote a guest column about taking the time to appreciate the stillness and quietude of the season. Amid the...
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Calling out GQ magazine on some double-pleated shite.
Yeah, these two are the problem. So, I picked up the latest issue of GQ to read on the plane. I like looking at all the cool shit men can own, wear and do. Provided you’re super f-cking rich. (More on...
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After 15 years, Johnnie Walker takes hike from the very agency that took it...
Above tweet says it all (plus love from Stu!) After 15 years, Johnnie Walker (Diageo) is leaving its incumbent agency, the much-heralded BBH, for Anomaly. That’s a big deal for two reasons. First off,...
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However you look at it, 2014 was the year of being offended.
But it does mean you’re human… If you’re not willing to read all of Russ Douthat’s brilliant article from the New York Times, here’s the first paragraph: Of course it had to escalate this way. We live...
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What time is it? Pretentious watch ads seem to think its 1985.
The headline for IWC’s Pilot watch: “Engineered for Aviation.” While the Rolex Yacht Master is “a chronograph created specifically for yacht racing.” I’ll get to the third ad later but if these two...
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Hate on Justin Bieber all you want (I do) but he fits new Calvin Klein...
Let’s start with a compliment. Despite all the Taco Bell and prodigious amount of booze he’s been illegally imbibing since he was 12, Justin Bieber is in shape. Dude is ripped. I’ve got to believe...
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Are personalized messages to consumers less authentic when they’re also used...
“We care. We really do.” Mcdonald’s and Bud Light are both introducing ad campaigns that draw attention to messages on top of their branding icons. With Bud light the messages pertain to their...
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Covering pop culture (aka the shit I liked) for my high school newspaper, The...
And the men who hold high places… A classmate from Lane Technical High School in Chicago posted this charming group photograph (circa 1979) in honor of Throwback Thursday on Facebook. It is a photo of...
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Saying “No More” to NFL’s contrived and tone-deaf campaign against domestic...
What do you think of the NFL’s “No More” campaign against domestic violence? If you watch football on TV, the commercials are ubiquitous. NFL players look directly into camera and tell us, in so many...
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In context of myriad NFL controversies, remembering the classy Ernie Banks.
Ernest “Ernie” Banks (January 31, 1931 – January 23, 2015) Below are two posts I wrote on Facebook, a day apart: I grew up in the shadow of Wrigley Field in Chicago, which at the time was a very...
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Teams with controversial brands. Not many are as reviled as the two playing...
Pete “The Cheat” Carroll Bill “The Hoodie” Belichick One could make a case that outside of the Pacific Northwest and New England, the Super Bowl hasn’t a team for the rest of us to cheer for. Just two...
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Final thoughts on the Super Bowl (the game, the glitz, the ads) and it’s...
A victorious Tom Brady waves to the world… The Super Bowl is over. Whether you got the outcome you wanted you have to admit it was a thrilling contest, about all one could ask for in a football game....
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After 94 years, Radio Shack goes on the fritz forever.
Last year the Super Bowl! This year the scrap heap. I grew up with Radio Shack. Like 7-11, they were everywhere. And like 7-11, they offered quick stop shopping, in their case for consumer electronics...
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Copywriting under the influence in public service ads (a bureaucratic...
Successful yes but it created a virus… Public service campaigns authorized by state or local governments tend to veer quickly into the slow-witted lane, especially when they pertain to driving safety....
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The dread and wonder of shopping new cars or how I spent my President’s Day...
“The operation can wait. I want the E class!” What did I do on President’s Day weekend? Why the most patriotic thing an American can do: I went car shopping! Yes, my beloved 2008 Saab Aero is at that...
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The Academy Awards aka #havingamoment
A raw “moment.” The Academy Awards are hard not to watch. One just feels compelled to share “Hollywood’s Biggest Night.” And I was no exception, although, I must say, I was not so much riveted by the...
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Cadillac keeps trying to reinvent its wheels, this time channeling Theodore...
If you can make it here yada, yada, yada… Has it really been over a decade since Cadillac reintroduced their brand via the Modernista agency and a Super Bowl commercial featuring Led Zeppelin? It’s...
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Will Smith’s new movie, “Focus” is so damn crappy I just had to write about it.
This is normally not a place for movie reviews but once in a while a film comes along that I cannot help but discuss. Focus starring Will Smith and Margot Robbie is just such a film. Unfortunately,...
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