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
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Category: Rants
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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Why I’m calling it quits after 30 years of marketing copywriting
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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