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.
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
Continue reading
Unofficially, my career as a marketing copywriter started in 1980 when I was 10. Then, as now, I loved video games. I loved the technology—cool-looking plastic boxes that pumped colorful
Continue reading
I hate most TV commercials with the white-hot fire of a thousand suns—so it takes something special to get me riled. Enter Liberty Mutual, the company whose car insurance commercials
Continue reading
The Cranky Creative explores the link between creative people and anxiety. Plus, tips for keeping the demons at bay. I jolted awake, gasping for breath. My heart was racing. My
Continue reading
The Cranky Creative shares life-changing words from someone a lot smarter than he is. Happy New Year, Cranky readers! I’d like to tell you about a book I’ve been reading
Continue reading
Back when I was a young copywriter in 1992 or ’93, I was asked to write the company holiday card. This was no small honor—the place employed six or seven
Continue reading
“Hello! I’m a hacker who cracked your email.” Last week, I received an email from my own email address. It was sent by a purported hacker who claimed to know
Continue reading
It’s true. Science has proven what many of us always suspected: Incompetent people don’t know they’re incompetent. Welcome to one of my favorite news stories ever, clipped from my local
Continue reading
This week, I share my thoughts on a recent freelance copywriting assignment and the things I’m thankful for this year . . . Happy Thanksgiving, my fellow creatives! It’s November
Continue reading
AKA, how to crush the life (and love) out of your employees. I saw a TED Talk recently that got straight to the heart of one of the greatest frustrations
Continue reading
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
Continue reading