Rants Archives - The Cranky Creative Blog

Joe Rogan interviews Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience

January 23, 2025 The Cranky Creative

Facebook firing its ‘fact checkers’ is a win for truth

I’ve seen a lot of emotional posts from people upset that Meta has put an end to its “fact checking” on Facebook. What they don’t realize is that Facebook’s “fact

December 15, 2024 The Cranky Creative

Creativity without accountability is killing the ad industry

The advertising industry as we know it is dying, and for good reason. Just … not the reason many ad people would have you believe. Over the past year, I

A young female marketer carrying a cardboard box as she leaves the office on her last day of work

November 11, 2024 The Cranky Creative

How to survive The Great Marketing Shakeout

If you haven’t noticed, the marketing and advertising fields are a bloodbath right now. AI is surely one reason for all the layoffs, but mostly, I think it’s a reckoning

cranky creative ad review of Pepsi chase cars advertising campaign

September 13, 2024 The Cranky Creative

Short Pepsi film shows how obnoxious brands have become

Just when you thought ads and advertising couldn’t get any more obnoxious, here comes Pepsi with a ‘short film’ showing everything that’s wrong with the industry and the culture today.

Marketing disguised as content - whether a webinar, an ebook, a whitepaper, or a blog post - is one sleazy tactic

July 7, 2024 The Cranky Creative

Marketing disguised as content is sleazy AF

Gah, marketing. The land of “free” consultations that turn into high-pressure sales pitches, “thought-leader” articles written by glorified SEO jockeys, and infographics so cluttered with logos they look like a

June 9, 2024 The Cranky Creative

Why Google is not your friend

(AKA, The World Wide Web is neither free nor fair under Google) Remember when Google felt like a helpful search engine, a gateway to all the world’s knowledge? Now, it’s

A young black girl in a business suit prepares for a job interview

February 19, 2024 The Cranky Creative

Forced quotas or fair chance? The debate around ‘racial parity’ in hiring

In the current push for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), some businesses are focusing on “racial parity” in their workforce demographics — that is, prioritizing the hiring of people of

NFL football fans playing a drinking game with Super Bowl LVIII ads

January 30, 2024 The Cranky Creative

Million-dollar mind control: why ‘your favorite Super Bowl ad’ does not exist

Pass the chips, hold the Kool-Aid. This Super Bowl, The Cranky Creative is serving up some red-pill hors d’oeuvres. Plus: The ultimate Super Bowl ad drinking game! Super Bowl LVIII

Chevy's new Christmas ad, A Holiday to Remember, Shamelessly Exploits Alzheimer's Syndrome

December 23, 2023 The Cranky Creative

Merry Christmas? Chevy plays the Alzheimer’s card in viral holiday ad

Earlier this month, Chevy set the world alight with a “must-see” five-minute ad titled “A Holiday to Remember.” Billed as “heartwarming” and “a tear-jerker,” the ad garnered rave reviews from

A typical commercial break on Amazon Freevee

September 6, 2023 The Cranky Creative

What a typical TV commercial break looks like today

As we’ve been catching up on some popular TV shows we missed from the early 2000s, I’ve been struck by the commercials on free streaming platforms such as Tubi, Pluto

July 29, 2023 The Cranky Creative

Hollywood films reflect the decline of Western culture

Modern movies, much like advertising (and especially TV commercials), attempt to reflect — or, some would say, shape — the culture. So it is a searing indictment of these times