You're Not THAT Important: Put Your Phone Down

Nothing says "I'm not paying attention" like texting during a meeting or a presentation, yet it happens all the time among the higher-ups when the lower folk are presenting. You get the occasional "Um-hmm" or "Uh-huh" uttered as their eyes never look up.

It's common courtesy. If I had my phone out and was furiously typing an email or texting when it's your turn to speak, you'd have a talk with my boss as soon as the meeting was over. If your job is so stressful and packed with work that you can't sit through a 10-minute presentation with your full attention on the presenter, then maybe you should tell your higher-ups that you need some assistance.

I'm presenting for your benefit, because you asked me to, because you want to see this piece before it moves on, so how about you LOOK at it. Can't that email wait?

Though something tells me you aren't even doing work-related things as your fingers tap away.

Hope you got high score.

Hey, Forbes: Your Content Isn't That Good

You greet me with this...


...and I'm just bailing.

You're fools, Forbes.

Morons and Child Annoyers

I love the evolution of the English language.

In 1936, a pervert was called a moron and a pedophile was merely a child annoyer. This article describes the final exploits of one Mr. Keane, who, following a "spectacular battle," was killed, even though he was "bent on thievery rather than rape."

Read this article from the Chicago Tribune in the voice of a radio broadcaster from that era and it all makes sense.

This is the height of the Great Depression. That kinda destroys everything I had previously thought. So, it wasn't all, "Brother, can you spare a dime?", soup lines and helping out hobos by offering them odd jobs around the house in exchange for a meal when they came calling at the back screen door while Grandma was cooling a pie on the kitchen window sill, the very window the moron would then peep into, though likely bent on thievery rather than rape.

Your Email Signature

If you have the following footer in your corporate email signature:

PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL | PROPRIETARY INFORMATION AND/OR TRADE SECRET
This e-mail, including any attachments, contains information belonging to the sender which may be Confidential and Legally Privileged. This information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to whom this e-mail was sent as noted above. The unauthorized use, distribution, copying or alteration of this email is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure or action taken in reliance on the information contained in this e-mail is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please advise the sender immediately by return e-mail and then delete it from your system.

I'd suggest that you take a big bold step against your paranoid corporate overlords and delete it.

It's 2016, people. This is bullshit.

The Evilest Click Bait Tactic

Sylvester Stallone is dead, suggest these two ads on Facebook. News to you? Of course it is. You didn't see that in your news feed anywhere. Surely someone in your Friends list would've said,  "RIP Sly," at the very least. Don't be a fool. Hover over the link. If you see a URL that looks like this

 

then you are being baited. For what? Who knows. It's a scam. Don't be scammed.

Someone actually paid for this crap ad. I don't even want to find out why. I've seen similar ads for Harrison Ford (on the heels of the latest Star Wars film) and a few other celebrities. The Internet is breaking. 

Photo Shoot

I get it. Trump is a bastard. But The New York Times is a newspaper, not People Magazine. This image appeared on the front page, above the fold today.

The caption tells us that this Muslim girl is studying at her family's home in the Bronx.

What it doesn't tell us is why she chooses to have such a menacing image of Trump, the current front runner and leading Islamophobic on the screen while she studies.

Photoshop or photo staging, this is shoddy journalism. Total bullshit.  

Swagger

I think Old Spice guy would agree with me; the respectable kind of swagger is the kind that isn't announced on your license plate.

Swag on, Swagmaster.

Smug, Thy Name is Nespresso

DeVito, one of my least favorite actors. And Clooney. Meh.

"Why don't you like DeVito? He's great!"

That's your opinion.

Those smiles. Must've been a nice paycheck. Clooney doesn't get out and shill for less than a ton of money. But pair him with DeVito? Must be the supercool guy and the dorky sidekick routine.

According to Agency Spy,  "George Clooney has been starring in Nespresso ads internationally for nearly a decade but is just now finally making his debut for the brand in the U.S., in a new ad from McCann New York entitled “Training Day” which also stars Danny DeVito."

(You can see the video at the above link. I'm too lazy to embed right now.)

Big name American actors, too cool to tarnish their images stateside, have no qualms about collecting ad dollars overseas. Guess Clooney realized there's this new thing called the Internet that has blown his cover. Might as well go full-bore pitchman now. 

I Got a Wave Today

Earlier, I posted about the Wheeled Waving Man of Welch Road. He was out there this morning, sending me off on a long holiday weekend.

In The Afterglow of a Foursome with Himself

Sir Richard Branson demonstrates the new cubby bed, where you can sit in a corner and work or read, not disturbing the other three people in the bed. These beds are in the new Virgin Hotel Chicago, and more locations will be springing up around the country.

In fairness to the art director on this shoot, there was no better way to demonstrate the function of the bed. (Except, of course, a family with two kids. Dad or mom in the corner, kids and the other parent watching TV.) Any other combination of people would've been pornographic.

"Two men and two women?"

"No."

"Four guys?"

"No."

"Four women?"

"Well...I could see that, but no."

"Let's get Richard to be all four people!"

"Genius, because what would Richard like more than himself? Three more Richards!"

 

Suck In Your Cheeks More, Daniel

Pouty male model is not a good look for a suave spy. Or maybe you're just Daniel Craig for this ad, Hollywood A-lister who happens to sport an Omega? That can't be, because your movie is part of the ad. So you're in character for the ad. Or maybe Daniel Craig as James Bond always looks like this? Holy crap! He does!

(And it's not a "watch," peasants, it's a timepiece, or better yet, a chronograph.)

There were many Bonds before you, Danny Boy. Keep that in mind.

Anthony Bourdain Discovers Drunk Food

It's all over the Internet, so I might as well comment on it as well.


These two are wasted, no question, and of course that's what Waffle House is all about. But the way this thing is making the rounds of social media has me suspicious. Because I'm that way.

But Bourdain's gushing doesn't stop there. He appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to promote his CNN show about, what else? What Bourdain shows are always about. Anthony Bourdain going around the world eating and drinking and talking about what a badass New Yorker he is, (basically, being a brash and obnoxious tourist) longing for the days when NYC was all junkies and whores and the sidewalks smelled of urine and there was a chance that any night in Manhattan you might be knifed or raped, before that bastard Giuliani kicked out all those colorful people and made it safe for (hocks up giant phlegm ball and spits with derision) TOURISTS. But there's something disingenuous about the way he goes into Waffle House spokesman here.

 

I smell Waffle House behind this. I'll never prove that. But there's way too much press behind this supposedly "real" moment for there not to also be some money behind it.

And that's fine if Bourdain is being paid to shill for Waffle House. Just be upfront about it.

The Dave Mark

I don't want to Art Direct, but...yes I do.

So the other day I came up with a logo for myself.

Using one symbol.

Flip it upside down, it's the same.

Turn it around backwards, it's sort of the same. But not really. Nevermind that.

Greater Than.

Up.

Down.

Less Than.

OK, enough trying to assign meaning to it. What I like is that it's my name spelled with no actual letters.


I present...the mark.

So, all you REAL Art Directors, Designers, Junior Designers, Associate Creative Directors and Production Artists, feel free to tell me where this falls short. I'm used to it. As I've always said, I know just enough Photoshop to completely frustrate a real designer.

Subject Line: Fall Into Savings

Yes, they went there. NICE WORK, Grainger.

But the bad copy doesn't stop there...

Rake in! Get it? 
But you're wondering what that free gift might be after you spend $299, aren't you?

I did the research for you. Get ready, 'cause this is a MIND BLOWER...

Aw, yeah!

Oh, and there's this:

1. Offer valid for the intended recipient only and may not be combined with any other promotions or price discounts.

2. Offer applies to online purchases only for orders shipped within the 48 contiguous United States.

3. The qualifying purchase for the Oversized Steak Knife Set is defined as a single order that totals $299 or more (excluding tax and freight) on Grainger.com.

4. Purchases placed on Grainger Repair Parts Order Form, Custom Sign Center, Custom Filter Center, and sourced or special order items do not qualify for this offer.

5. Customers participating in the Grainger for Your eProcurement Solutions program do not qualify for this offer.

6. Limit one promotional item per qualified Customer, per account.

7. Purchases must be received by Grainger (and a Full Rights user must approve the purchase) between 12:01 a.m. CT Oct. 28, 2015 and 11:59 p.m. CT on Nov. 24, 2015.

8. To receive the free gift, you MUST include the promotional code in the Promotion Code Box on the Grainger.com order form.

9. Quantities are limited and are available while supplies last; in the event that supplies are exhausted, Grainger may substitute an item of similar value.

10. The approximate retail value of the Oversized Steak Knife Set is $30.35.

11. The promotional item will be shipped separately from your Grainger.com purchase.

12. Please allow 6-8 weeks after promotion end date for delivery.

13. If entering a trade promotion or acceptance by you of a free gift is a violation of your company’s policies, do not participate in this promotion.

14. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

15. Government and Healthcare employees are not eligible for free offers. Employees of W.W. Grainger, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates are not eligible for free items.

16. Grainger.com purchases are subject to Grainger’s Terms of Sale.

17. Grainger and Grainger.com are registered trademarks of W.W. Grainger, Inc.

18. For more information regarding any of the trademarks used herein, please go to our Terms of Access, Trademarks Section of our website.

The Wheeled Waving Man of Welch Road

Most mornings this man can be seen on my commute. He sits on this little scooter thing in his driveway and waves to cars. Not all cars. I haven't figured out how he selects which cars are granted his wave, and I have sometimes not received one. This morning I didn't. He appears to be sleeping today.

Why does he do it? I've no idea. Maybe he sees it as some sort of community outreach, a ministry of sorts. Maybe he is just spreading cheer and goodwill to the people about to cut each other off as the two lanes merge to one and the morning cursing of our fellow man begins. Short of interviewing him, I will never know his motive. At any rate, I usually wave to him. 

OK, It's Getting Bad

Every morning. Every night. Every time I'm on the road. People having to use their horns to alert the person at the front of the line at the light that it's time to get their head out of their lap and drive. People drifting into my lane. I pass them and they make no attempt to disguise the fact that they are actively engaged with their phone on the steering wheel. Truckers even, on narrow roads with construction all around, drifting left and right.

It's an epidemic. Don't know what's going to come of it, but it's only getting worse.

Toyota On The Hot Seat Because Their Trucks Are Good

Counter-terrorism officials want to know why ISIS dudes are tooling around in Toyota trucks.

Let me save you the trouble, US Officials.

Toyota trucks are good. I own one. A 2015 Tacoma. Love it.

If you are suggesting that Toyota is somehow in league with ISIS, (and it seems like you are) that's just so much bullshit.

Do they sell Toyotas in Syria? How about Iran? Iraq? Saudi Arabia? Turkey?

I'm guessing...yes?

That's where they got them.

Do you think Toyota execs are loving it every time an image of one of their vehicles is featured in the news with a band of ISIS dudes kicking up dust across the desert with a black flag and a 50 caliber machine gun in the bed? Naw...probably not. And I'm sure they frown on the way they overload the bed. You're not even supposed to ride back there!

Now, if Ford wants to jump in here, or Chevy, and make some counter-claim in their advertising, something along the lines of, "Terrorists Rarely Drive Our Trucks," that's probably fair game.

No foul here, America. Just a good truck.

How About a Little Respect for The Genius of Volkswagen?

So what if they found a way to work around the ridiculous American emissions standards?

VW is known for quality, tightly-screwed-together vehicles. They are known for engineering. They are known for their very German-ness. It's the poor man's BMW.

I drive a Jetta. Not a diesel Jetta like the ones the carmaker toyed with in their genius way. Mine is a 5-speed, stripped down, doesn't-even-have-cruise-control, smallest engine available, black Jetta. It is as German as it can be in its functional-ness. It gets me to work and back. In a sporting way. It has no guts on the takeoff, but at cruising speed I can downshift and gain some torque. It's a fun drive. It's a VW. Tight. The doors go, "shunhk" when you close them. It's what I expected from a VW.

So you're in the VW labs in Germany and you've built this very fine, tight, fast, efficient vehicle and along comes an email from the U.S. EPA that says, "You have to meet these requirements when it comes to emissions." You gather with your fellow engineers and you play around. You find that to meet these requirements your car will sacrifice something in the area that you stake your reputation on. Maybe it's fuel efficiency. Maybe it's power. I don't know. I'm not an engineer. But something made these engineers say, "Screw you, America. Here's what we're gonna do..."

So they rig the cars to pass the tests through software! Brilliant! They pass the stupid American tests and still get the car they wanted to build. THAT'S what I expect from Germany. Ingenuity, albeit in a dark and underhanded way. Still, sheer genius.

Makes me even prouder to own a VW.  

I'm Not a Copywriter, But...

I hear that once a day from account people. At least once a day.

Truth is, everyone thinks they're a copywriter - and truthfully - everyone is in some way. People know what works. They know what works for them, anyway. They know what commercials grab them or what billboard catches their eye, what banner makes them click. I like to think I know what works for everyone. Because I'm an arrogant copywriter. It's my job. But when an account person says to me, "I'm not a copywriter, but..." I try to listen with an open mind.  

Still, simple words trip me up. Like barely and hardly. When is something barely doable and when is something hardly doable. Does barely mean it can be done, but only by the skin of its teeth? Does hardly mean it can't be done, ever? So, is hardly a word used in sarcasm? I hurt my brain with these exercises. I can't think about it too much and just take every case situationally. Situationally is not even a word. It sure should be.

Think of the word maybe. According to Jack Johnson, maybe pretty much always means no. According to a child, maybe means we will absolutely get you that thing you want. Maybe is basically the same as I promise.

Probably, on the other hand, is like maybe towing a yes trailer.

Amber Waves of Median Grass

On a recent road trip halfway across this vast nation, I was struck, as I always am, by the sheer emptiness of much of the country. We have huge uninhabited forests and expansive meadows; miles of desert and endless mountain ranges.

I understand that much of it is privately owned. Much of it, however, is owned by the federal government.

 

Now of course all I'm seeing on my road trip is the Interstate and the mostly private lands that border it. Here is the Interstate system:

 

It covers 47,856 miles. Most of those miles have a grassy, very pretty median in the middle, all of it federally owned. (By the way, that "fact" about every fifth mile of the Interstate needing to be flat and straight so as to be used as an airstrip in times of war? False. I was guilty of spreading that one for years.)

All of that was a set-up for a very simple (stupid) solution to the world's refugee problem. We could fit every single refugee - from every single country - into our medians. Give them tents from Walmart or affordable storage sheds from Lowe's. Power and water exist along most of the routes. Little refugee villages all across the nation, reminding us of where we all came from and how we all got here.

What would we feed them? Oh, I dunno...how about the leftovers from the countless Cracker Barrel restaurants scattered along the Interstates? Or the 40% of the food we waste in this country. 

Of course it'll never happen. But next time I'm watching hoards of beleaguered families wandering down dusty paths toward the hope of a better life, I'm remembering those vast swaths of emptiness, those dumpsters full of food and my own good life.   

 

It's Huuuuuuuge!

There's a small amusement park here in Orlando called Fun Spot. It's family owned and operated. This goateed gent is the Chief Operating Officer, John Arie, Jr. He's the son of the founder, John Arie, Sr. Junior appears in virtually all the ads for this place. On TV, he can be heard exclaiming the park's tagline, which I'm sure he invented, "It's HUUUUUGE!" Here are some more pictures of Junior for you.

Everything about Fun Spot says "family-owned." From the quality of the advertising to the smallness of the rides and attractions within the park, this is not why people come to Orlando. But they're here and Junior is going to grab them. What I like about Junior is his savvy. 

On long stretches of the toll roads leading from Orlando International Airport to Interstate 4, every other billboard is for Fun Spot. You'll see a couple for Disney, a few for Universal, but John has made his little park look like a major player. He knows people are maybe spending half a day at his place, and only if they happen to be staying on International Drive, where he is located. But the kids in the back seats are seeing his ads and saying, "That place looks fun, Dad!" And Dad says, "Maybe," which to a kid is as good as, "You bet! We'll be doing Fun Spot, kiddies!"

Fun Spot is not huge. It's relatively tiny. But Junior understands advertising. Say it over and over again and say it in as many places as you can afford to and you'll get business. Never mind that once they get there they'll realize it's a small step up from the type of traveling carnival you'd find in the parking lot of the K-Mart in Springfield, Missouri. It's still a fun spot.

One of my favorite Fun Spot billboards is up right now just outside of Universal. (Junior understands placement.) I'm almost positive the photo shoot was directed by Junior. It features two girls on Fun Spot's small, not-so-thrilling roller coaster. The girl on the left is being honest, "This is a fun little roller coaster. Weeeeeee!" The girl on the right is losing it, utterly terrified by the sheer velocity, harrowing turns and potential death that awaits. But not so terrified that she can't raise her arms in gleeful abandon.

That's advertrising.

Well played, Junior.