Transatlantic Supergroup Forms

Bill, Angela and Darryl (BAD) have been friends of this blog from its beginnings back in 2006. Now they have merged their unique talents to form AdVerve, which already existed, but now includes Darryl, who just left the agency he founded, Humongo, to join Carrot. Bill and Angela have shelved their old blogs while the one Darryl started will be carried on by the good folks of Humongo, whom I get to work with from time to time on various projects. It's all slightly confusing. The ad blog world is a little shaken, bewildered, confused and nervous right now. What does it all mean? It's like if your brother married your sister or something, but not gross like that. Bad example.

All I know is that these three bloggers are truly decent people who have been very kind to me in the five years I've known them. I trust that whatever comes of this, it'll be good. 

Mad Men - Unbuttoned

Mad Men Unbuttoned is, according to the publisher,  "a reader's companion to the show, a discursive look at American history during the mid century, and tasty eye candy." But that description doesn't really cut it. I'll try to do you one better.

The book is by journalist and advertising fan Natasha Vargas-Cooper, formerly the main voice behind Public School Intelligentsia, one of my favorite blogs before it was put out to pasture. She has written for Gawker and Huffington Post, among other publications, and is now a frequent contributor to The Awl. She is also, and this is putting it mildly, a serious student of Mad Men. Better yet, she is the professor of Mad Men. This book should be a textbook in advertising schools, but even for a casual fan of the show, it's a thoughtful journey into the transformative era in which the show takes place, covering everything from decor to literature, politics to sex. As an example of the depth of NVC's research (and an example of her out-of-control obsession with the show), she has an entry in here on what drives Sally Draper's grade school teacher to be such an idealist and why she bothers to attempt to get to the bottom of Sally's "acting out," citing books of the era that influenced young teachers. She even explains why Bert Cooper's office is decorated in an Asian theme. I just thought he was an eccentric old coot. After reading just a few entries, you get a better sense of how carefully crafted Mad Men is, revealing layers of the show that might otherwise appear superficial.

But what book about Mad Men would be complete without full-page color ads from the era, and bunches of them? It is also a history of the theories of advertising, and of the ad giants behind those theories, from Burnett to Ogilvy. I was honored to have been asked to write a short essay about a Bernie Fuchs illustration for the book. I got my galley in the mail yesterday. I'm looking forward to reading what @natashavc has put together. I just started it and have already come across a quote from the man behind Copyranter and an essay by Tim Siedell, better known as Bad Banana.

If you like the show, pre-order the book. If you know a fan of the show, buy it for them. If you teach advertising, make all of your students read it. In the author's words, it is for Mad Men fans, design junkies, history buffs and pop-culture enthusiasts. I'm sure you fall into at least one of those categories.

Seven (Future) Things About Me

During the last round of "Seven Things About Me," the blogger meme where you tell....yes... seven (likely unknown) things about yourself...I opted out when a few of my virtual friends asked me to play along, citing my previous involvement in the game.

I've rethought it and decided to play, but with a twist.

I will reveal seven things about my future self, and then call out a few bloggers to do the same.

1. After the publication of my epic saga and the subsequent sale of the movie rights to Spike Lee (who was in a bitter bidding war with Ron Howard), I was able to move to Adelaide, SA and became a citizen of Australia. I think it was the appointment of Sean Hannity as Secretary of Patriotism by President Limbaugh that finally tipped the scales.
2. I finally learned to surf, but finding surf in SA without great white sharks isn’t easy.
3. We have a vineyard and farm in the Barossa Valley. We make some wine, but we always end up drinking it all or giving it away as gifts. The farm is mostly an excuse for our dog to practice sheep herding, which he sucks at.
4. Whenever we visit the States (maybe once a year, lately) we like to mess with people by acting like we can’t understand them through their thick accents.
5. Our daily 30-minute show (Monday-Friday, live online) Radio Free Babylon, was banned in Saudi Arabia. Again. After that, Pepsi stopped sponsoring us, leaving the door open for Coke. The contract says we have to drink it on-camera, but I usually spike mine.
6. During the Canadian-American War, I started stockpiling weapons, water and food. Don’t come looking for them.
7. I can finally speak Spanish fluently, which is useless down here.

And now, your turn:

Bill
Kym
Kaitlyn
Chimp
Lori
MMM
Stan
Broad
Corey

Seven Other Places

Here are seven other places you could be right now on this fascinating World Wide Waste of Time.

• Fred Leo of Every Sandwich analyzes the gang graffiti on his back fence from a marketing/messaging perspective.
• Working late at an agency...and discovering another bunch of reasons to hate your job.
• The view from your window, a regular reader generated feature of Andrew Sullivan's blog at The Atlantic.
• Can't afford expensive waders? Do it the Texan way.
• Survival of the spitefullest, from Drew at Married to The Sea. (Better known as the artist behind Toothpaste for Dinner.)
• Headed to Florida? Don't miss the Burt Reynolds & Friends Museum.
• Shipment of Fail! (Which I found through Carb Free Creativity, who left a comment at Yonder Ponder. Don't you love this scary and intricate web we weave?)

Yeah, I know. Technically, that was 11 other places. But I only used seven bullets. So shut up.

Copyranter Rises From The [Blogging] Grave

It appears I've preached a premature eulogy. But it took him five days instead of the customary three. Still, let the enemies of truth and all who defend the black art of advertising tremble. No shop is safe from his sword and few are the ads that escape his wrath.

Welcome back. May you make some cash.

Do You Remember Where You Were When...?

We've all heard the tales of people who were alive when JFK was shot. They all have a similar story wherein everyone remembers "exactly where they were when they heard the news."

My generation will have similar stories to tell our children when they ask, "Where were you when you found out Copyranter had quit blogging?" I will answer them thusly: "It was a Saturday morning about 8 AM. I was at home drinking coffee and checking things on the bedroom computer when I read it on my Google reader from Bill Green of Make The Logo Bigger. I remember it like it was yesterday."

The greatest ad blogger to ever ad blog has quit at the top of his game. That's how the good ones should go out. No Joe Montana exit for this guy. No switching uniforms to play for a lesser team and then falling to the turf with repeated concussions, a shell of his former self. And we trust there will be no Michael Jordan-styled attempts to return to the game, unless it is as a paid columnist at a respected publication. But respected publications would want to water him down. If there's one thing we who read Copyranter figured out, it's that the guy is true to his word. He says what he means and means what he says. 110% and all the other sports cliches you can come up with. And he quit with style - after a trip to LA with his girlfriend*.

His retirement from the world of snarky ad critique will affect this blog to a degree. I had the honor of being a regular Friday beneficiary of his weekly Link Haze for a few months running and enjoyed the traffic spikes.

He offered no tags or labels and never stooped to contextual ads in his sidebar. He offered no blogroll, yet his authority rating on Technorati dwarfed most others. He was a giant. A giant asshole, but a giant nonetheless. And while I have removed retired bloggers from the Linkers and Lurkers list to the right, Copyranter will remain. He didn't just rip ads; he ripped agencies, society, culture, players, pawns and the hell that is New York City. His archives will stand the test of time and his name will forever be uttered with awe and reverence.

Best to you, Mark. Now go get a gig that pays you to do what you did so well for free.

*Perhaps Copyranter "went Hollywood" and cashed in? Perhaps American Apparel Chief Charney bought his silence?

Link Laundry

Some T-shirt shout-outs for some stuff I've been wasting time on this week when I was supposed to be working.



James has been pondering Hell in the heat of a poop-filled Dallas backyard.





It's a small blog world. Jordan's uncrowned king of design bloggers is Ahmad Humeid. Visit his blog at 360East. Also visit his company, Syntax.





The Assimilated Negro is moving on up, having been published at HuffPo and the new EbonyJet.




A local radio guy, whose station IDs and creative productions are stellar, is on the ground floor of some new Web 2.0-ish endeavor, complete with "beta" underneath. Good place to find blog ideas.





Kym gave a full three-weeks notice and her boss still went all vindictive psycho on her.






Copyranter is under the impression that Campari is trying to use Salma Hayek's breasts to sell liquor. Always reading into things.

The Day the Blog World Stood Still

¹And it shall come to pass in those days that the scribes who favor the Search Beast will not find the Beast’s servers, and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ²There will be no scrolls of wit and disdain penned during these days by the scribes who esteemed the Spot of Blog.

³And those who dwell in the gray and dreary cubicles, who seek to shun their tasks in favor of the mockery of the scribes, shall not find them, for the Beast’s servers will be laid low. ⁴They will seek William of Logo, and he shall not be found. They will seek James the Ponderer, and he shall not be found. They will seek the Ranter of Copy from the Great City, and even he shall not be found. And all their thoughts will be vanity.

⁵And the scribes who hold favor with the Pad of Type, and they who make their beds with the Press of Word, shall laugh and scorn the Beast’s followers to derision, calling out with a loud voice, crying, ⁶“Woe unto you, fools and charlatans! For your words are as dust, floating in the clouds, where none can hear them and no one shall heed them! ⁷For you have followed the Beast unto ruin, and your scrolls no one shall read!”

II Blogmentations 4:1-7