Rants Archives - Page 3 of 4 - The Cranky Creative Blog

The Cranky Creative explores where all the white people are in commercials

January 5, 2022 The Cranky Creative

What happened to white people in TV commercials?

If you only watched TV, you might think that white people (including fumbling, bumbling white males) are a minority in the United States. Depending on the commercial break, you might

movie poster for idiocracy showing a destroyed and dumb downtown Detroit

December 5, 2021 The Cranky Creative

Why the hell is everything so broken?

Is anyone else experiencing a complete and total breakdown of everything that used to “just work”? I’m talking about placing an online order, or getting a car repair, or speaking

June 14, 2021 The Cranky Creative

Brands have no business pushing COVID vaccines

Whether you are looking to inform a loved one about the dangers of COVID-19 “vaccines” or you have just started to ask questions yourself, welcome. This page will be an

No one needs Liberty Mutual's wet teddy bears

April 16, 2021 The Cranky Creative

No one wants Liberty Mutual’s wet teddy bears

Liberty Mutual’s new wet teddy bear commercial has convinced me of two things: 1) The once proud profession of advertising is dead; and 2) We really do live in a

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

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

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

July 18, 2019 The Cranky Creative

Business buzzwords and corporate jargon I hate

The corporate world runs on business jargon—bullshitty buzzwords that mask the meaning of the things we want to say. Why do so many businesspeople muddle their messages with mush-mouthed words

bad-advertising-and-commercials-are-everywhere

May 16, 2019 The Cranky Creative

Hey, advertisers! People hate you, and you deserve it

Tired of junk mail? Of too-loud commercials blasting your ears? How about those full-screen pop-up ads you can’t close until you play an asshole game of “Click the Tiny X