The true nature of competition in America

I normally blog about more serious things, and I the underlying issue is very serious, but I have to agree with the title of this one- I couldn't have said it better myself. I won't even bother with the commentary...it speaks for itself. Thanks, adhack.

Baltimore Trip: Underground Advertising

During my trip to Baltimore over the Christmas holiday, I got to ride on a subway for the first time. I know, I know, but I grew up in Texas, and there aren't a lot of rail systems around here, much less subways. That made my experience trolling around the DC subway system all the more fun. The really fun part, though, was seeing how the space was used for advertising.

I had only recent begun to hear about the group This is Reality, the folks who do the spots denouncing clean coal. So, you can imagine my amazement when I found they had bought out every available inch of ad space in one of DC's busiest terminals.

They didn't even just buy the traditional space, they went for broke, wrapping ads around support columns, hanging long banners from handrails, and more. I didn't even realize they had that kind of funding, but the coalition must be strong, my friends. I can't image that kind of absolute buy-out would be cheap, especially in the heart of DC.

It made me yearn for unconventional OOH opportunities…something that's usually incredibly effective, but rarely tried. Anyone want me to put your brand somewhere cool to grab consumers' attention in an incredibly relevant and memorable way?

Advertising oasis dries up

Throughout the world, especially in hot, desert places, water is seen as a symbol of money and opulence. Don't believe me? Look at the fountains in front the casinos in Las Vegas.

That said, it guess it's only fitting that one of Dallas's most prominent billboards has dried up. For as long as I can remember, one of the primary routes into downtown Dallas has featured a billboard with an actual running waterfall. Usually sponsored by a beer company, the water cascading down the three-dimensional stone waterfall flanked by a sponsor's message greeted me and thousands more into the big D's central business district. However, with the economy, cuts have become a way of life and it doesn't look like anyone sees a waterfall of a billboard as a prudent expenditure. It now sits a dry, barren rock, sandwiched between the bare bones of a billboard picked dry by a bloated leech known to most of us as subprime lending.

Baltimore Trip: Public sign FAIL

The importance of proofreading cannot be overemphasized. I see mistakes in advertising that's running all the time, and I'm talking about unintentional mistakes- not intentional misspellings like the Chick-fil-A billboards (which I love). but you'd think they'd raise the bar for signs that are supposed to guide public behavior.

In a recent Christmas trip to Baltimore, I saw this sign on the side of a grocery store. Walking by, it caught my attention at first because of the handwriting on it...handwriting proclaiming how amazing it is to misspell a word on a public sign that's only two words long. I wonder if the sign affects the enforceability of the law. After all, the sign says "NO LOITERIING," not "NO LOITERING."

Proofread it.

Suspiciously awesome perks for unnamed underling

I need to find out where the guy from the American Airlines commercial works. In the spot, he's a nameless underling kid who turns into his boss's go-to guy for business trips. I'm not sure why he's going, but evidently, the trips aren't very important or they really don't care about their business because the boss doesn't ever bother to learn his underling's name. The amazing part is when we get to the kicker - when the boss is looking for the go-to guy, he can't find him because the go-to guy used the frequent flyer miles to go on vacation...

What company lets you use the frequent flyer miles you accrue on business trips for personal use? I'm not sure if he committed some sort of fraud or if the go-to guy just works for such an awesome company that they let him use those business frequent flyer miles for personal use. I can't think of a company that wouldn't use that free trip for another business trip to cut costs. I might buy it if it were a large company and we were talking about the owner, but the company in the spot is clearly a large company and the underling is just that-an underling. All I have to say is, those are some serious perks.

Writers Unite

This guy is like Braveheart for writers. Now, that's what I call a call to action. I just hope he doesn't get taken down by a fellow countryman like William Wallace.

Click here to see why Jack Neary, Executive Vice President/Executive Creative Director, BBDO Worldwide thinks copywriting is on life support.

Copywriters are creatives too

I'm glad to say my current agency doesn't make this mistake, but it's one I've encountered so many places, I have to set the record straight.

COPYWRITERS ARE CREATIVES

Too many times, account people have asked me to "work with the creatives," not work with the other creatives. Too many times have I heard, "Hey, we're having a meeting. We're gonna need all the creatives, and you too." "Let the creatives handle that." "Give this to a creative." "This invite goes out to you and the creatives."

And for some reason, every time, the "creatives" are art directors or designers. I realize that the days of the traditional copywriter/art director pair are long gone at most agencies these days, but for people who went to school for this sort of thing, you'd think it would be clear. Maybe they didn't think what I did was that creative, maybe it wasn't valued. Perhaps, because I wasn't using specialized software they had little knowledge of, I wasn't included in that group. Or perhaps, they just weren't used to having a copywriter around at all.

Whatever the reason, it confuses the bejeebuz out of me. 99% of ads are composed of two crucial elements- the visuals and the words. That means copywriters create HALF of the creative product of an ad, assuming they aren't entirely responsible for coming up with the concept themselves. So, to not call a copywriter a creative in my mind is insulting, as it implies that we "just write" and aren't creative. It implies that what we do serves some tertiary function and that the art directors/designers are the ones doing the real creative work. It's tantamount to pretending the House or the Senate has no role in making laws. They both have equally important roles, and to imply otherwise is brazen and smacks of under-education.

So remember everyone, copywriters are creatives, too. If you don't realize that, you need to go back to school.