Why “Love, Actually” is a bad movie and also a holiday classic
As the holidays draw to a close, decorations start coming down (mine stay up until January 6, but you do you), seasonal playlists return to their li’l media caves or …
Merry Christmas from Caperton Gillett Creative
Y’all are the best gifts a mouthy, opinionated, moderately external-validation-seeking freelance copywriter could have, and I treasure your place as colleagues and, in many cases, friends. May you have the …
Weepies 2025: The 10th Annual Weepy Awards
It’s Weepy season again, but the 2025 Weepy Awards aren’t just any Weepies. They’re the tenth anniversary of the Weepies — a decade of honoring the ads that make you …
The First Christmas Commercial Ever
Commercialism has been inextricably linked with Christmas going back generations — the first time Guðmundur put up a note in the town square reminding Gjögur he offers the freshest oranges …
How to do Black Friday (if you must) ethically 2025
Is it becoming a habit? A tradition? Something I do periodically because I’m bitter about consumerism? Maybe, possibly, and only partly. In today’s economy (In Today’s EconomyTM), particularly with tariffs …
Podcasts I do listen to because I’m capable of doing so
In general, I don’t listen to podcasts. Or rather, I can’t listen to podcasts. It’s not that I can’t hear them. I just have a condition called ADP — auditory …
Reblanding: 360-degree brand update-updates
Recently, Cracker Barrel became a source of controversy and not just rustic wooden gee-gaws and heart disease when they hupped and changed their logo, I guess in pursuit of a …
Writing is like music, and I mean that literally
So, I’m a music person. Always have been. You might have picked up on it from my previous musical blatherings, or the fact that my entire advertising career came about …
Anyone can be creative, and I sincerely mean that, please.
There is, and probably always has been, an epidemic of people thinking they aren’t and/or can’t be creative, and it sucks beyond the telling of it. It’s not specific to …
Adversarial marketing: The audience isn’t the enemy.
I’ve said in the past that one reason I love advertising is that it’s creativity you can win at. You’ve got goals, indicators, KPIs, and you’re being creative while also …