Well, I’m doing it. After nearly 32 years in marketing and copywriting, I am moving on. It’s a strange feeling, leaving a job I’ve done for so long. Interestingly, I
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Author: The Cranky Creative
Copywriter. Ad critic. Blogger. Head crank at The Cranky Creative.
Is AI coming to take your job? Yeah, it probably is.
The explosive growth of generative AI (artificial intelligence) programs such as ChatGPT and Midjourney is about to change the world — and put a metric shit-ton of people, including marketing
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Subliminal messages in advertising … and Disney cartoons?
A phallic shadow. The word “SEX” etched in ice. The American public has been bombarded with subliminal messages for decades, and the practice continues to this day. In 1957, researchers
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This is why companies are pushing LGBTQ+
Everywhere you look, brands are pushing LGBTQ+ messaging. Think they’re just virtue signaling? No — they are being extorted by the country’s top three investment companies — BlackRock, Vanguard, and
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Did Bud Light just commit brand suicide?
No, it’s not a joke. On April 1, trans TikTok “star” Dylan Mulvaney posted an Instagram video announcing a partnership with Anheuser-Busch to promote the company’s March Madness contest. In
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Cranky Case File: When management trips balls
The first Cranky Case File recounts a true-life story of management groupthink and how it backfired with hilarious results. Once upon a time, as an in-house copywriter for a public
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Candy culture wars: Hershey’s hires trans-rights activist for International Women’s Day
Another day, another candy company melts down in the culture war. This time it’s Hershey’s Canada, who has hired a trans-rights activist to celebrate International Women’s Day. The new “HER
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The real reasons people hate TV commercials
Oh, advertisers. It didn’t have to be this way. Once upon a time, consumers might have liked to hear from you. They might have eagerly awaited your TV commercials to
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For live TV streaming, don’t go Vidgo
Consumer alert: Are you a cable TV cord-cutter looking for a reliable and affordable live TV streaming service? After getting scammed out of $75 and a free 30-day trial, I
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LIVE-BLOG: Super Bowl LVII commercials
Tune in TONIGHT at 6 p.m. ET as The Cranky Creative live-blogs all of the commercials from Super Bowl LVII! There’ll be thrills, chills, and no doubt some spills as
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M&M’s retires woke ‘spokescandies’ amid consumer backlash
Weeks after launching its latest campaign to attach social causes to its candy, M&M’s has pulled its cartoon candy characters indefinitely. Yesterday, the company took to Twitter to admit that
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