The Cranky Creative, Author at The Cranky Creative Blog

empty grocery store shelves from panic buying during coronavirus pandemic

March 12, 2020 The Cranky Creative

Coronavirus pandemic: don’t panic, but be prepared

June 14, 2021: Be sure to see this post, “Brands have no business pushing COVID-19 vaccines,” to find out why these injections may not be safe or effective — despite

obnoxious boy yelling into a microphone to get attention

February 28, 2020 The Cranky Creative

Ear-ritating: How TV commercials misuse sound to get our attention

Sound is a powerful tool in advertising. Its ability to draw attention and evoke emotion is proven to affect sales. So why, then, do so many advertising soundtracks seem designed

football referee making no good hand signal

February 4, 2020 The Cranky Creative

No good: Super Bowl LIV commercials miss the mark

On Sunday night, Super Bowl advertisers spent $5.6 million for 30 seconds to make people go “ha!” or “aww”—only to have their costly TV commercials forgotten a moment later. The

marketers, stop letting compliance people rewrite your marketing copy

January 28, 2020 The Cranky Creative

Marketers, stop letting compliance departments write your sales copy

Compliance departments have an important job to do—but rewriting the company’s marketing copy is not it. Marketing departments dogged by overzealous compliance feedback need to stand their ground—not only for

messy aftermath of a New Year's Eve party

January 15, 2020 The Cranky Creative

New Year’s resolutions for TV advertisers

2019 was a banner year for bad TV commercials. Between Liberty Mutual’s bird-brained LiMu Emu commercials, Allstate’s “Mayhem” antics and Chevy’s not-so-real “Real People” ads, viewers had a lot of

peloton wife receives bike as christmas gift

December 6, 2019 The Cranky Creative

Peloton holiday ad triggers snowflake meltdown

This week, the Internet exploded in furor over a holiday ad for the luxury stationary bike company Peloton. Critics mocked and hate-tweeted the ad mercilessly, calling it “sexist,” “mysogynistic,” and

Thanksgiving table set outside in country

November 28, 2019 The Cranky Creative

The Cranky Creative gives thanks

Happy Thanksgiving, friends and readers! It’s good to count our blessings every once in a while, and today is the perfect day to do so. Here are a few things

November 19, 2019 The Cranky Creative

We are copywriters, not typists or order takers

Back in the days when I worked as someone else’s employee, a manager would occasionally ask why I seemed so resistant to making seemingly minor copy changes requested by other

cranky creative reviews the little caesars tv commercial, can't see the crust

November 12, 2019 The Cranky Creative

This Little Caesars TV commercial is supremely unappetizing

One of the worst TV commercials of 2018 is back on the air. Let’s all point and laugh at Little Caesars’s “Can’t See The Crust,” a deliberate nipple-slip of an

ad review for the playstation vue tv commercial

October 31, 2019 The Cranky Creative

Ad Review: PS Vue gets it right

Sony’s live TV streaming service, PS Vue, is ending. But don’t blame the ads, because they were great. Let’s see what PS Vue advertising got right that so many ads

freelance writer writing on a laptop at a coffee shop

October 17, 2019 The Cranky Creative

Survival tips for full-time freelancers

I made my first foray into the freelance world in 2010 while working full-time at a job I hated. Copywriting jobs were few and far between where I lived, and