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.
Schick’s “trimming the bushes” TV commercial for its Hydro Silk TrimStyle women’s razor debuted in 2015, raising eyebrows and sparking controversy across the ad world. Schick received a fair few
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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
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The Cranky Creative blog first lit the pixels of computer screens a year ago on July 4, 2018. Frustrated with the red tape, politics, and backstabbing stupidity that pervades the
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“Mayhem” is the character that creates mischief and, er, mayhem in all those Allstate insurance TV commercials. Mayhem is also what nearly happens in my bedroom at 2 a.m. when
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Chevy’s “Real People” commercials have been around for years, but I’ve been fortunate enough to dodge them—at least until last Tuesday when I found myself a captive audience in a
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I’m no fan of Liberty Mutual TV commercials, having savaged the company’s awful “Truth Tellers” ads in January. But soon after, the company rolled out a new campaign. “LiMu Emu
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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
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In a world where every Tom, Dick, and Jane on the Internet is a self-proclaimed marketing expert, it’s refreshing to see someone share no-BS marketing insights derived from rigorous testing
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The United Kingdom’s Direct Marketing Association surveyed 433 British copywriters and found . . . a lot of cranky creatives. See why they’re so unhappy. The 2014 survey—the first and
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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
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A Very Short Story. Some years ago, I worked for a creative director who regularly organized activities meant to inspire her copywriters and designers and reset our creative brains. One
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