Why is poetry so prevalent in TV advertising?

Another lazy poem

It first appeared years back; innocent enough

Convoluted stories, all dripping with fluff

A rousing voice rhymes in place of a song

But a concept so tired can’t keep living on

 

Yet still it endures, sadly more than a fad

Another lazy poem in another telly ad

Brand stanzas and couplets invading the screen

With cliches more weary than they’ve ever been

 

It’s Magners, McCain, and everywhere you look

Cheesy old Cathedral, you’re not off the hook

Pop drinks and sports games both share one idea

Then Waitrose join in (with a highbrow effort, dear)

 

So flick on your box to hear rhythm and verse

But stop short of thinking it can’t get much worse

For just when you’ve suffered your rhyme overload

Here are McDonald’s – with another tired ode

 

Why can’t all films be marketed as well as Alpha Papa?

Norfolk’s North Norfolk’s top mid-morning disc jockey isn’t to everyone’s taste. While his fanbase is obsessively loyal, his appeal is far from universal. Try to describe to someone who doesn’t ‘get him’ (especially someone young, or not particularly au fait with the extremes of British comedy) exactly why Alan Partridge is such a comedic figure, and you’ll struggle to put your finger on it.

Why can clients be copywriters, but not art directors?

Any art director reading that headline will no doubt point out that clients interfere with art direction just as much as they do copywriting.

Why don’t Facebook like words?

A few months back, I was asked to write a couple of ‘long copy stories’ for a client to use as image content on their Facebook page. The colleagues who requested them were keen to test out how copy-heavy images performed versus the usual design-led content.

Why do we criticise each other’s work so much?

Let me start with another question – have you ever noticed how prevalent the culture of criticising the work of peers is within the advertising industry?

Why did nobody spot the smut in these ads?

Once every so often, an advert with a definite undercurrent of filth pops up on our screens or billboards. And every time this happens, a part of me wonders – did the client sign the concept off in the knowledge that it might be misinterpreted, or did they innocently miss the smutty connotations within?

Why can’t we carry brand tone of voice into social spaces?

The Condescending Corporate Brand Page on Facebook has given us all the chance to chuckle at ourselves self-depreciatively in recent weeks. And while not every post appearing on there is necessarily ‘condescending’, the page has undoubtedly shone a light on an issue that’s seriously troubling the industry – why on earth do so many brands continue to talk to their Facebook fans and Twitter followers as if they’re a bunch of illiterate eight year olds?

Why do we think a hashtag is enough of a call to action?

London’s hosting of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games caused an inevitable deluge of sport-related advertising – whether the brands in question were ‘Official Partners of the Games’ or not. Amidst the monsoon of press ads, all featuring desaturated shots of sportspeople looking a bit too serious, I noticed something: almost all of these sport-focused brands’ expensive creations signed off with nothing more than a hashtag as a call to action.