Blazing-Cold Advertising Takes: Chevy’s holiday ad
What was hugely popular and widely celebrated over the 2021 holiday season? Chevy’s holiday ad. What did I legitimately love, from an artistic standpoint? Chevy’s holiday ad. What am I …
The 2021 Weepies
Super Bowl season gets a lot of attention for being the ad industry’s, well, Super Bowl — it’s the time when advertisers go all out, wringing every drop they can …
How to make ads on the fly like Ryan Reynolds
Update 12/17: And Just Like That… Peloton has pulled the ad because it turns out Chris Noth might be a rapist. The turnarounds keep turning. All indications are that Maximum …
Facebook, Meta, and Crisis-Management Rebrands
So Facebook is becoming Meta. I mean, kind of, pretty much. The change doesn’t apply to all of Facebook — it only applies to Facebook’s overall corporate body, and the …
When advertising tropes attack
Pardon my whining, but this is my blog, after all, and: Some ads make my life harder. Am I speaking professionally? Personally? Emotionally? Logistically? Is the ad industry getting me …
Baltimore’s comma-dumbass COVID campaign
In our household, there’s a phenomenon known as “comma dumbass.” It shows up when you say something that sounds like it ends in “dumbass,” and probably should end in “dumbass,” …
The 2021 Olympics Ads Olympics* (*please don’t sue me)
I know 2021 has been a weird year for anything Olympics-related because, well, there wasn’t supposed to be an Olympics in 2021. The Olympics were supposed to be last year, …
Three brands that didn’t screw up Pride Month
Pride Month, that annual celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, is both a great party and an important acknowledgment of LGBTQ+ people’s right to freely and unashamedly exist. (If you’re reading …
Ad Campaigns That Haven’t Gotten Old
I’m a bit of an advertising gourmand. I know, theoretically, I should have the highest of standards for the industry that has become my life, and I do. But no …
The CGC Participation Trophy: Funeral Home Edition
I love a challenge. When, as a baby creative, I was building out my college portfolio, I assigned myself a spec STI prevention campaign for the CDC just to see …