Skip to content
The Cranky Creative blog

The Cranky Creative Blog

Truth in Advertising — and Beyond

See and share us on:

  • Facebook
  • X
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Home
  • TV Ad Reviews
  • About
  • Contact
  • Hire Me for Copywriting
  • Subscribe for Free
  • The loud, cramped, and high-pressure world of radio ad sales in one image.
    July 8, 2026 The Cranky Creative

    16 days as a human lottery ticket: my short-lived career in radio

    There is a serious, quiet weirdness afoot in the business world today. Across almost every industry, a surreal new management template has taken root: People are being hired into roles

    Continue reading
  • 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

    Continue reading
  • 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

    Continue reading
  • 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

    Continue reading
  • 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

    Continue reading
  • 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

    Continue reading
  • 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

    Continue reading
  • 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

    Continue reading

Copywriting and Strategy, Now Available on Demand

I am currently accepting select freelance copywriting and strategy projects for businesses that value real results. Want to work with a 30-year veteran instead of an algorithm? Drop me a line.

LIVE-BLOG: Super Bowl LVII TV Commercials
February 8, 2023 The Cranky Creative

LIVE-BLOG: Super Bowl LVII commercials

Tune in TONIGHT at 6 p.m. ET as The Cranky Creative live-blogs all of the commercials from Super Bowl LVII! There’ll be thrills, chills, and no doubt some spills as

Continue reading
Mars candy company is retiring its cast of M&M's spokescandies
January 24, 2023 The Cranky Creative

M&M’s retires woke ‘spokescandies’ amid consumer backlash

Weeks after launching its latest campaign to attach social causes to its candy, M&M’s has pulled its cartoon candy characters indefinitely. Yesterday, the company took to Twitter to admit that

Continue reading
J&B whisky ad for modern audiences featuring a grandfather and his transgender grandson
January 2, 2023 The Cranky Creative

Woke capitalism and the myth of the ‘modern audience’

As brand after brand sacrifices its reputation and sales revenue in the relentless pursuit of “modern, progressive audiences,” one has to wonder: Is it worth it? And do these modern

Continue reading
Chewy bests other brands by connecting with its customers
December 11, 2022 The Cranky Creative

Chewy sets the example for brands by connecting with customers

As the world burns and the rotting edifice of civilized society starts to fall in around our ears, let us celebrate pet-product online retailer Chewy for its exceptional and heartfelt

Continue reading
Raise your freelance rates easily with this free rate increase email template
November 22, 2022 The Cranky Creative

The best damn freelance rate increase email on the net [FREE template]

Need to raise your freelance rates? Soften the blow for your clients with this free rate increase email template. Last year, one of my dear graphic designer friends contacted me

Continue reading
vintage photo of epic train wreck
October 25, 2022 The Cranky Creative

Why is modern advertising so terrible? A comparison of ads, past and present

The advertising industry has lost its way. It’s obvious every time we turn on the TV or open the mailbox. But what makes today’s ads so bad? Recently, advertising industry

Continue reading
Frame from Pepsi's controversial TV commercial showing Kendall Jenner giving a Pepsi to a police officer at a Black Lives Matter protest
October 13, 2022 The Cranky Creative

No, consumers don’t care about your brand’s stand on social issues

We hear it all the time: “Brands need to take a stand on social issues.” “The public demands to know where your brand stands on social issues.” But is it

Continue reading
virgin-atlantic-tv-commercial-woke-or-no
August 30, 2022 The Cranky Creative

Ad Review: Fly the freaky skies with Virgin Atlantic

As brands and advertising agencies continue to get woke, Virgin Atlantic and its new advertising agency Lucky Generals join the fray with “See the World Differently,” a 60-second ad that

Continue reading
publix-back-to-school-with-publix-tv-commercial
August 23, 2022 The Cranky Creative

Ad Review: ‘Back to School with Publix’ is a heart-tugging failure

I’m going to take some heat for this one. “Back to School with Publix” is a good-looking, heartwarming ad. But it’s not a good ad, despite all of the positive

Continue reading
Still frame from Chewy's Chatty Pets: Joy TV commercial
August 17, 2022 The Cranky Creative

Ad Review: Chewy’s ‘Chatty Pets: Joy’ truly is

I promise, Cranky readers, I’ll get the cats out of my system soon. But not before I review “Chewy Chatty Pets: Joy,” a 30-second TV commercial from pet-product online retailer

Continue reading
Ladybug the cute gray tabby relaxes in some grass
August 11, 2022 The Cranky Creative

Florida update #2: A kitty named Ladybug [UPDATE: She’s ours!]

We heard a soft jingle and turned toward the sound. Out of nowhere, a little gray tabby came sauntering over to us in all her striped glory. “That’s Ladybug,” said

Continue reading

Posts pagination

«Previous Posts 1 … 5 6 7 8 9 … 15 Next Posts»

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?
  • Subliminal messages in advertising ... and Disney cartoons?
  • Ad Review: Liberty Mutual’s LiMu Emu is Lame-O
  • The lost generation: how DEI mandates erased Millennial white men
  • What happened to white people in TV commercials?

Blog Pages

  • Home
  • TV Ad Reviews
  • About
  • Contact
  • Hire Me for Copywriting
  • Subscribe for Free

Site Policies
Content & Comment Policy
Privacy Policy

© The Cranky Creative. All rights reserved.

Browse Posts by Category

  • Ad Reviews (48)
  • Advertising (61)
  • Books (4)
  • Brand Ethics (7)
  • Branding (3)
  • Copywriting (17)
  • Corporate Deception (8)
  • Cranky Case Files (7)
  • Cranky Critiques (1)
  • Culture War (32)
  • Free Resources (4)
  • General (28)
  • Government Deception (6)
  • Graphic Design (8)
  • Holidays (8)
  • Humor (12)
  • Movies (2)
  • Music (1)
  • News (28)
  • Personal Life (29)
  • Rants (39)
  • Super Bowls (7)
  • Systemic Lies (6)
  • Tips (5)
  • Truth-Seeking (15)
  • Vaccines (5)
WordPress Theme: Wellington by ThemeZee.