Saturday, April 19, 2008

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?

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5 Comments:

  • I will miss his Ketel One commentaries, especially.

    By Blogger Unknown, at April 21, 2008 at 1:46 AM  

  • I was there man. I was knee deep in rice paddy..oh wait no I was having my slurry of coffee and read the Copyranter last blog.
    I don't know dick about ads but I know sharp wit when i see it. He delivered laughs with regularity. That blog was great and it made me look at ads quite differently.
    Viva El CopyRanter!

    By Blogger Iagos, at April 21, 2008 at 9:42 AM  

  • "The greatest ad blogger to ever ad blog?" Seriously?

    Chacon a son gout, I suppose.

    I know a lot of people enjoyed his blog, but I wasn't one of them. He wasn't particularly witty or trenchant or insightful. It wasn't intelligent snark: It was just the self-loathing ramblings of a guy who hates himself and the industry he works in (God knows I can relate to that).

    Instead of cutting through the BS and pulling back the curtain to reveal just how f**ked up this business is, he just took cheap shots at ads so bad even their creators would be hard pressed to defend them.

    God knows advertising could use a Gawker-type blog. But Copyranter -- who desperately wanted to be it -- wasn't.

    Better luck next time, pal.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at April 21, 2008 at 3:16 PM  

  • Yeah, there aren't too many things that remain rewarding on a daily basis without compensation. I can think of a few, but that's all.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at April 21, 2008 at 5:34 PM  

  • sorry to ruin your eulogy, but circumstances have changed.

    By Blogger copyranter, at April 23, 2008 at 5:43 PM  

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