Creative Advertising Copywriter Blog 2008
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Who in advertising drinks the most? Part 2
When I started in advertising, the long lunch was still customary. And serious drinkers would be tolerated. Nowadays, of course, some agencies won't even allow you a half of shandy at lunch time.
But back in the day, in my experience you only really found the alcoholics in two specific roles. Not traffic people - although they certainly drank their share, they had to be on the ball too much. Not planners, at least not in my experience. Maybe planning didn't particularly attract boozy types. Not art directors. They had to be capable of not just walking in a straight line, but of drawing one.
No, it was the account handlers. They had the opportunity. The contact report could wait. They had the motive (God, did they have the motive; who'd be an account handler in most agencies?). And they had the means - wining and dining the client and access to a decent expense account.
The other category was us copywriters. If it didn't actually help the writing (and it rarely did) we could always just about get away with claiming that was the case. And, of course, we were tortured souls, our work always in danger of rejection for no good reason.
I can't remember coming across anyone in an agency in the last few years with an obvious drink problem. Back in the day, though, I could point you to half a dozen account men and even more writers with drink problems. But who generally got away with it.
Monday, April 7th, 2008
Who in advertising drinks the most? Part 1
No, not individuals, though I can think of a few, but departments. Another poll from the Scamp blog this time, to find out adland's biggest imbibers.
Here's the link:
But to save you the click, the results aren't that interesting. Creatives, planners, traffic and account handlers were all pretty evenly divided, with TV producers slightly down the list, but probably because many agencies don't have TV producers, whereas they all have creatives and the rest.
There were 60 odd responses, which is pretty good for an online poll of this kind. Of course, the real answer is that in the old days (lack of internet aside) most ad people wouldn't be participating in polls like this. They'd be too busy out getting smashed.
And in the old days, in my experience, certain categories of ad people were much more likely to be not just boozers, but alcoholics. More next time.
Greatest TV ad for kids ever? Part 1
A gorgeous one from the 1970s this, for Lego. Narrated by Tommy Cooper, it's witty, charming, magical and, most importantly, ensures that the product is the real hero. It also stands up to repeated viewings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2nL5sSSvd0
They don't make 'em like that any more...
Interestingly, I found another TV ad for Lego. More on that in my next post.
Greatest TV ad for kids ever? Part 2
Here's another Lego ad I found at the ever-fruitful You Tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ9WrBtVDjM&feature=related
It was made by a Brazilian agency in the 1990s. It's interesting comparing it with the Tommy Cooper one from the UK linked to in my last post.
I think it's much poorer. The Tommy Cooper ad could be enjoyed by parents and kids alike. This one could only be understood by parents. While clearly aiming to be humorous, it simply comes across as trying too hard to be clever. There's none of the charm, wit, movement and adventure of the UK ad. It also has rather an odd thing going on with shadows that doesn't seem to add anything to the overall effect or message at all (other than trying to distract from the rather clunky ad, maybe).
The top 5 things an ad agency copywriter doesn't want to hear.
"We love these concepts. Let's combine them."
"We need to get approval on this ad from our committee."
"Our marketing guy wrote the first draft. We just need you to touch it up."
"I need some quick copy."
"We're going to have to pass on your novel."
Not my list, I hasten to add, though I've heard them all often enough. Apart from the last one (as per my earlier post). And no-one actually admits to critiquing an ad by committee, though that's effectively what often happens with certain large clients.
Here's a link to the copywriter who was having a bad day:
http://adagencyconfessional.blogspot.com/2008/03/top-5-things-copywriter-never-wants-to.html
TV's worst adverts
What are the worst ads on TV? We all have our favourites, if you can call them that. Anyway, here's an interesting blog called 'TV's worst adverts'. To quote rather a good advert, it does exactly what it says on the tin. They even have competitions for the worst ad of the month.
http://tvs-worst-adverts.co.uk/
Weirdest TV ad ever?
Another little oddity from You Tube here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzkJF0c2390
I haven't the foggiest what they're meant to be advertising, and nor, from the comments, does anyone else either. The only clue is the opening frame, which is something about making babies laugh. Apart from being a better thing to do than, say, to make the little darlings cry, I can't see what on earth they're on about.
Weird ad mark 2 - Have it awayday.
I'm not sure if this was an actual ad, or if someone shot a piece of film and then added a British Rail logo and endline for a bit of cheek.
It's one of those fast frame, speeded up jobs, which appears to depict a fat middle -aged businessman's dirty weekend away, courtesy of British Rail. It looks very late Sixties / early Seventies, with sub Benny Hill music throughout.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FPQgLmoK20
It's distinctly odd. Especially for a company like British Rail. Take a look and see what you think anyway.