Brazilian Suicide Awareness ads – Modern Day

This is a recent ‘gimmick’ ad that has a very subtle, but powerful visual message. It’s hard to see in the pix, but the written message is ‘Help yourself’, and the interesting thing is that the cutout characters that are falling are being rescued by the outline they were cut from. ‘Help yourself’. Very strong.
I give it ↑↑↑

They must have a serious suicide problem in Brazil to post these adverts on the streets of San Paulo. I’d be interested to know how successful they are.

Campaign by Leo Burnett in Sau Paulo, for CVV Suicide Prevention Center in Brazil, via designboom.

Perhaps the best print ad of all time…from 1963

Here is the classic automotive ad of all time. It was by David Ogilvy in his signature style showing one giant image dominating the top of the page and lots of ad copy below. Still regarded 45 years later as the best print ad ever created for an automobile, it is perhaps, the best print ad ever. I give it my highest rating of ↑↑↑↑↑

The heading was superb and the sub-head led the reader into the first of 13 features each quickly followed, for the most part, by a short explanation of the benefit of that feature. Ogilvy said that he spent three weeks reading about the car when he came across a statement in the technical data that read “at sixty miles an hour, the loudest noise comes from the electric clock.” That became the headline followed by 607 words of factual copy. And a star was born.

I’ll take mine with the espresso machine and the bed (feature no. 11).

LA Law Firm Ad – Modern Day

Here’s a very simple newsprint ad I did a few years ago for an LA law firm. The use of the word ‘Injured’ targeted the ad and the word FREE in all caps grabbed the reader and pulled him in. Because most attorneys work on a contingency basis I chose that as the basis for my ad and made it seem unique to this Law Firm. Brief and to the point.

An extremely simple, but highly effective 1/4 page ad.

Pepsi Commercial – Godfather Girl

This is a wonderful Pepsi ad, but I drink Coke and this commercial would not have swayed me in the least. It’s highly creative none the less. Fun to watch and it does get it’s point across, but then it threw me at the very end with the generic Joy of Cola slogan. What’s with that? Why not the Joy of Pepsi? Completely blew it for me.

So I give it a ↔ for effectiveness, but a ↑for creativity.

What do you think?

Automotive Ad – 2004

Here’s a seasonal automotive ad for J&J Automotive produced by McGaffic Advertising and Marketing. As automotive ads go, it’s a good one with a catchy headline. With the huge amount of automotive ads in the newspapers it’s hard to stand out. I think this one did…↑

My only critique is that the J & J logo is difficult to understand.

Greyhound ad – 1953

Greyhound put out this ad in 1953. Three things made it an effective ad…

1. The use of a celebrity, Ralph Edwards, gave the ad credibility and using his photo got the attention of those who watched his TV program.
2. The headline grabbed attention…and the copy followed through.
3. The slogan (which seems to have changed through the years)”a lot more travel, for a lot less money” was effective in showing the benefit of traveling Greyhound.

Good ad. ↑↑

American Airlines ad – 1948

This American Airlines ad, from 1948 announces a new fare and is effective because of the headline and the call outs. But it could have been more effective if “America’s Money Saving Plan” were in large type and “Family Fare Plan” were reduced. “It’s Here” grabs the reader and “Money Saving” should have held him, but the adman chose to enhance the name of the plan instead of the hook “Money Saving.”↑

Do you agree?

I dream of Turkey

This commercial created for the Tourism Council of Turkey blends perfectly the ethereal qualities of a dream in the selling of the history, the culture, the beauty, and the modern sophistication of the country. It’s a pretty package, indeed. With Turkish music in the background the ad whisks you away to this mystical land and doesn’t let you go until it fades to black. The ad works for me. ↑↑

Great ad from…(I don’t want to ruin the ending)

This ad portrays a real need for the product in a very funny way. It describes perfectly the purpose of the product and shows how a talented, funny mind can create an ad that ties the punch line to the tagline and then to the product itself. Absolutely loved it.  It works.↑↑↑

Copywriting for FREE? Some on craigslist think so…

Every day, there are more and more craigslist posts seeking ‘writers’ for everything from book collaborations to editorials to online articles. More people are finding themselves in need of some form of writing service.

But what they’re not doing, unfortunately, is realizing how rare someone with these particular talents can be.

To those who are seeking writers, let me ask you; how many people do you know, personally, with the talent and skill to perform the writing services you need? A dozen…five…one…none?

More than likely, you don’t know any. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be posting on craigslist to find them.

And this is not really a surprise.

In this country, there are almost twice as many neurosurgeons as there are ‘professional’ copywriters. There are eleven times as many certified mechanics. There are seventy times as many people in the IT field.

So tell me…why do you think it is okay to live out the same, delusional, ridiculous fantasy of getting something for nothing (or next to nothing) when seeking someone whose abilities are even less in supply than these folks?

Given that they are less rare, and therefore individually less in demand, would it make sense to ask your mechanic to work on your car for free? Would you look him in the eye, with a straight face, and tell him that his compensation would be the ability to have his work shown to others as you drive down the street?

Would you offer a neurosurgeon the ‘opportunity’ to add your name to his resume as payment for removing that pesky tumor? (Maybe you could offer him a few bucks for materials. What a deal!)

Would you be able to seriously even consider offering your web hosting service the chance to have people see their work, by viewing your website, as their payment for hosting you?

If you answered yes to any of the above, you’re obviously crazy. If you answered no, then kudos for living in the real world.

Copywriters, freelance writers, editors, etc., are skilled tradesmen. As such, to consider them as, or deal with them as, anything less than professionals fully deserving of your respect (and money) is both insulting and a bad reflection on you as a sane, reasonable person. In short, it makes you look like a twit.

A few things you need to know;

1. It is not a great opportunity for a writer to have his work seen on your web’zine, website, sales letter, marketing flyers, etc. It is a great opportunity for you to have their work there.

2. The chance to have their name on something that is going to be seen by other people, whether it’s one or one million, is NOT a valid enticement. Neither is the right to add that work to their resume. They get to do those things anyway, after being paid as they should. It’s not compensation. It’s their right, and it’s a given.

3. Stop thinking that you’re giving them some great chance to work. Once they skip over your silly ad, as they should, the next ad is usually for someone who lives in the real world, and as such, will pay them. There are far more jobs needing these skills than there are people who possess these skills.

4. New writers in the business do need experience. But they do not need to get it by giving their work away. In fact, this does not even offer them the experience they need. Anyone who will not/can not pay them is obviously the type of person or business they should be ashamed to have on their resume anyway. Do you think professional contractors list the ‘experience’ they got while nailing down a loose step at their grandmother’s house when they were seventeen?

If you, your company or gig was worth listing as desired experience, it would be able to pay for the services it received. The only experience they will get doing free work for you is a lesson learned in what kinds of shrubs they should not lower themselves to deal with.

5. ‘Creative’ writers, this one’s for you so please pay attention. Some will ask you to submit work for consideration. They may even be posing as some sort of ‘contest’. These are almost always scams. They will take the work submitted by lots of writers each trying to win the contest, or be chosen for the gig. The organizers of these ‘contests’ take the best that’s submitted and use it themselves. Usually they’ll have someone reproduce that work or make slight modifications to it, and claim it as their own. You will not be paid, you will not win the contest. The only people who win here are the underhanded folks who run these ads. This can be considered speculative, or ’spec’, work. It’s risky at best, and a complete scam at worst. I urge you to avoid it, completely.

6. Speaking of Spec work, don’t ever accept it. When someone asks you to write some copy or draw up an ad ‘to show them what you can do’ without an agreed upon price, that’s spec. And it should not be in your vocabulary. Spec work may seem necessary at the beginning of your career, but it’s better to do ‘free’ work for charitable organizations to build up a portfolio, then to waste time and effort on spec work.

So to writers of all persuasions looking for work, do everyone a favor, especially yourselves, and avoid people who do not intend to pay you. Whether they are ’spec’ jobs, or just some guy who wants a free article in his magazine. They need you. You do not need them.

And for those who are looking for someone to work for free…how dare you.