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

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

March 12, 2019 The Cranky Creative

Please, do not “hit me up” on a Friday afternoon

I hate receiving job requests on Fridays. I work hard all week, and by the time Friday rolls around, I just want to see all of my current jobs through

The Cranky Creative blog, the dark side of workplace niceness culture

October 8, 2018 The Cranky Creative

When “nice” is not kind: The dark side of workplace niceness culture

On my last day at the direct marketing agency where I had worked for two years, I scrolled through my LinkedIn newsfeed and spotted an article that seemed written just

cranky creative blog, the client is not always right

September 10, 2018 The Cranky Creative

No, the client is not always right

Can we finally put to rest the tired and pernicious notion that “the client is always right”? It’s not true, and marketing people who work from this mindset are doing

Cranky Creative blog, the trouble with freelance copywriters

August 27, 2018 The Cranky Creative

The trouble with (some) freelance copywriters

Why do so many freelance copywriters forget that their job is not to write poetry or win advertising awards, but to sell their clients’ products? Having spent most of my

July 31, 2018 The Cranky Creative

Marketers, put a leash on your legal beagles

Legal departments have an important job to do—but hounding the marketing department is not it. Marketers dogged by overzealous legal input need to stand their ground. 1/28/20: This article has