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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.

what's on your work music playlist?
July 22, 2020 The Cranky Creative

What’s on your work music playlist?

Listening to music at work helps me to focus and find my groove. In this post, I’ll share some of my favorite music genres, artists, songs, and sounds to listen

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woman holding up two fingers
July 1, 2020 The Cranky Creative

The Cranky Creative blog turns two

As The Cranky Creative toddles headlong into the Terrible Twos, let’s celebrate by taking a look back at some of this blog’s best and most popular posts of the past

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satirical sad advertising executive shedding a tear
June 13, 2020 The Cranky Creative

‘Adapt or die’: the advertising industry faces painful change

Posh parties. Black-tie award shows. First-class flights and three-martini lunches. As ad budgets shrink, brands move capabilities in-house, and more people realize that the emperor has no clothes, advertising agencies

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Progressive insurance company's new motorcycle mascot, Motaur
June 4, 2020 The Cranky Creative

Progressive’s ‘Motaur’ ads are too clever by half

Racial tensions are rising as American cities burn. Meanwhile, fear of an over-hyped virus ravages the globe. This breaking news is brought to you by Progressive Insurance and Motaur, the

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tonal tv commercial mom
May 21, 2020 The Cranky Creative

Ad Review: Tonal TV commercial shows and tells

In a sea of terrible TV commercials, this ad for Tonal digital fitness equipment caught my eye—not for shouting at me or blithering like an idiot to get my attention,

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diet dr. pepper's character lil sweet rewards people with the sweet taste of diet dr. pepper
April 29, 2020 The Cranky Creative

Dr. Pepper’s ‘Sweet One’ ads hit a sour note

Every time I see one of those Diet Dr. Pepper TV commercials with the twerpy little glam rocker and his annoying high-pitched voice, I wonder: Who is this guy? Am

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screen shot from the all people are tax people superbowl tv commercial
April 16, 2020 The Cranky Creative

TurboTax ad review: When creative trumps strategy

Working in advertising is fun, especially as a creative. We copywriters and graphic designers get paid to think up clever ways to communicate a brand’s messages. The problem comes when

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Work-at-home office with desktop computer and phone
March 27, 2020 The Cranky Creative

No-B.S. tips for working from home

Now that work from home (WFH) has become mandatory for anyone with a smart boss or half a brain, The Cranky Creative offers some no-B.S. tips to help you stay

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empty grocery store shelves from panic buying during coronavirus pandemic
March 12, 2020 The Cranky Creative

Coronavirus pandemic: don’t panic, but be prepared

June 14, 2021: Be sure to see this post, “Brands have no business pushing COVID-19 vaccines,” to find out why these injections may not be safe or effective — despite

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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

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football referee making no good hand signal
February 4, 2020 The Cranky Creative

No good: Super Bowl LIV commercials miss the mark

On Sunday night, Super Bowl advertisers spent $5.6 million for 30 seconds to make people go “ha!” or “aww”—only to have their costly TV commercials forgotten a moment later. The

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Posts pagination

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Today’s Top Posts

  • My short-lived career as a United States Postal Service (USPS) mail carrier
  • Liberty Mutual's branded idiocy: is this the future of advertising?
  • 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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