Working in advertising is fun, especially as a creative. We copywriters and graphic designers get paid to think up clever ways to communicate a brand’s messages. The problem comes when
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No-B.S. tips for working from home
Now that work from home (WFH) has become mandatory for anyone with a smart boss or half a brain, The Cranky Creative offers some no-B.S. tips to help you stay
Continue readingCoronavirus 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
Continue readingEar-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
Continue readingNo 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
Continue readingMarketers, 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
Continue readingNew 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
Continue readingPeloton 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
Continue readingThe 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
Continue readingWe 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
Continue readingThis 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
Continue readingAd 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
Continue readingSurvival 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
Continue readingAd Review: Esurance commercials with Dennis Quaid
Remember Erin, the pink-haired secret agent who starred in the first Esurance TV commercials? Alas, some people liked the character a little too much and the company was forced to
Continue readingAdvertising quotes from the real-life Mad Men
I just finished watching all seven seasons of the hit TV show, “Mad Men,” which takes place in the 1960s at the start of the Golden Age of Advertising. It
Continue readingThe Cranky Creative ties the knot
I wrote the most important copy of my life in July 2004. I was responding to an online personals ad posted by the woman who is now my wife. We
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