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Truth in Advertising — and Beyond

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  • A wide landscape image of a bustling city downtown with pedestrians and cars, where the right side of the frame dissolves into blocky, various-sized pixels in a retro palette of red, blue, green, and orange.
    April 23, 2026 The Cranky Creative

    The 8-bit human: Why 2026 feels lower-resolution than 1979

    What a road-crossing turtle, a breast-pumping nurse, and a house on wheels taught me about

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  • A weathered laptop and a tropical drink on a tiki bar at sunset, representing the "Cranky Creative" office and the advertising apocalypse archive.
    March 19, 2026 The Cranky Creative

    The very best of The Cranky Creative: a guide to the ad world’s decline

    When I launched The Cranky Creative in 2018, I thought I was starting a support

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  • Image reminiscent of the final scene from the movie Planet of the Apes in which Charles Heston's astronaut character finds the ruined Statue of Liberty on the beach and realizes that mankind has destroyed itself
    October 26, 2025 The Cranky Creative

    How advertising created a nation of entitled assholes

    It’s over. I’m done. For years, I’ve used The Cranky Creative to vent about the

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  • A collage of virtue-signaling ad campaigns that flopped: Bud Light, Pepsi, Jaguar and more
    August 20, 2025 The Cranky Creative

    Virtue, Inc.: How progressive politics hijacked business and marketing

    Marketing used to be about connection — understanding what people wanted and selling it with

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  • In 1957, researchers experimented to see if subliminal messages could be used to increase sales of popcorn and Coca-Cola
    May 8, 2023 The Cranky Creative

    Subliminal messages in advertising … and Disney cartoons?

    A phallic shadow. The word “SEX” etched in ice. The American public has been bombarded

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  • Today's blog post talks about the top 10 reasons why people hate TV commercials
    February 28, 2023 The Cranky Creative

    The real reasons people hate TV commercials

    Oh, advertisers. It didn’t have to be this way. Once upon a time, consumers might

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  • 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

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Out of Office, Permanently

The office is officially closed, as the "Great Enstupiding" of the advertising industry is no longer my problem. You can find the best of my work in the archive below. If you are looking for me... I've gone to the beach.

so-called covid vaccines are not really vaccines
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

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Gillette Venus Pubic Hair Trimmer Ad the Cranky Creative Review
April 30, 2021 The Cranky Creative

Yes, the Gillette Venus Pubic Hair and Skin razor ad goes (down) there

Would you ever knock on a stranger’s door and, upon being allowed to enter, strip down and start shaving your pubes? That’s precisely what Gillette and model Nicole R. Rasenti

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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

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ad review allstate's tv commercial smooth
March 4, 2021 The Cranky Creative

Sorry, Cranky readers, but I like the Allstate “Smooth” ad

In brilliant contrast to so many boorish ads that aim to get our attention through cacophonous noise and vapid jokes, Allstate’s 60-second “Smooth” ad communicates its message with style, grace,

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Cranky Creative ad review: Super Bowl LV
February 7, 2021 The Cranky Creative

Super Bowl LV commercials: The Cranky Ad Review verdict

Really, what did everyone expect? Smarter and funnier than most TV commercials aired during Super Bowl LV, the 1999 Mike Judge film Idiocracy was sadly prescient. So let’s watch a

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Cranky Creative Ad Review: GEICO's gags are getting old
January 28, 2021 The Cranky Creative

Ad Review: GEICO’s gags are getting old

Prolific insurance advertiser GEICO is back with more “hilarious” TV commercials. This time, two couples are excited to share how much they love their new homes — despite clogging problems

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Cranky Creative Ad Review: PS5, Xbox battle for video game supremacy
November 19, 2020 The Cranky Creative

Ad Review: PlayStation 5, Xbox battle for video game supremacy

PlayStation 5. Xbox Series X. The next generation of video game consoles is here, and with it, a stark reminder of why advertisers need to communicate the right message to

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introducing robbert, simplisafe's new burglar slash tv spokesman
October 28, 2020 The Cranky Creative

Ad Review: Simplisafe’s ‘Robbert’ commercials sell the product short

I like SimpliSafe. The company’s home security systems are easy to use, effective, and affordable. So I’m a little disappointed with SimpliSafe’s latest TV commercials featuring new spokesman “Robbert,” a

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allstate tv commercial safe drivers save 40 percent
September 30, 2020 The Cranky Creative

I hate Allstate’s ‘safe drivers save 40 percent’ commercial

It assaulted my ears from another room: a rapid-fire series of irritating voices all repeating the same line, over and over. I couldn’t make out the words, but I knew

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copywriting tips for copywriters and aspiring copywriters
September 16, 2020 The Cranky Creative

Writing tips for copywriters and, well, everyone who writes

Writing is hard. Let’s make it easier with helpful tips and a pre-flight checklist. Whether you are new to copywriting, an experienced copywriter, or someone who simply wants to make

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Cranky Creative book review: Bob Garfield's And Now a Few Words from Me
August 20, 2020 The Cranky Creative

Book Review: Bob Garfield’s ‘And Now a Few Words from Me’

Readers of this blog often ask me to recommend good books on advertising. If you have even a passing interest in the ad world, then you need to put Bob

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Posts pagination

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Today’s Top Posts

  • Liberty Mutual's branded idiocy: is this the future of advertising?
  • My short-lived career as a United States Postal Service (USPS) mail carrier
  • What happened to white people in TV commercials?
  • Yes, the Gillette Venus Pubic Hair and Skin razor ad goes (down) there
  • Subliminal messages in advertising ... and Disney cartoons?
  • So dumb, it hurts: the 'Trust Your Home to Andersen' Ad Review

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