Pepsi Update

On Wednesday, in Championship Brand Tinkering, I said..."It seems like the brand babblers have taken over at Pepsi, and they are screwing it up royally.It will take a while (like it does in all big organizations) for someone with a brain to realize what's been going on."Well, apparently I was wrong. It only took two days. Adweek just reported that Pepsi North America CMO has resigned.

Bride of Friday Follies

Assertions Without FactsThe latest batch of web nonsense comes to us from an Ad Age piece entitled "Advertising Will Change Forever." (I guess "The Web Has Changed Everything" is now such a cliche, even the jargonistas won't use it anymore.)You gotta say something for these people, they've got balls. Here's what the writer says:"In this recession, marketers have learned that interactive

What Exactly Is Creativity?

Two weeks ago I posted, "What Is Good Creative And How Do I Get It?" Since then, I've been thinking a lot about creativity.Specifically, I've been thinking about "the creative mind" and whether it is truly different from the average mind. I think it is.When I say "the creative mind," I'm not speaking solely about art or writing or music. Creativity can appear in all kinds of disciplines:

Championship Brand Tinkering

There are many flavors of baloney floating around the ad world these days. There's "digital" baloney, there's "conversation" and "engagement" baloney, but the biggest, most pervasive, and most dangerous form of baloney is still "branding" baloney.In a post called "Brand Tinkering" I said,...tinkering with the brand is way more fun than solving real business problems.Solving problems requires

Zealots, Maniacs and Hustlers

Here at The Ad Contrarian global headquarters, we've developed a reputation for being anti-digital media and pro-traditional media.We are neither.We have no personal interest in, or allegiance to, any medium.Our only purpose is to fight bullshit, hyperbole and words without meaning. We are against zealots, maniacs and hustlers of any stripe.Yes, we are vociferous in denouncing people who tell us

Why Everything Sucks

He's right -- it's all our fault.Thanks to Jason Headley for this.

More Friday Follies

RIP GidgetAccording to PeoplePets, Gidget, the chihuahua that was the face of Taco Bell for a few years in the late 1990's has died.Gidget was the subject of lots of controversy within the ad community. She also pissed off a whole lot of Hispanic people who saw her as an unflattering stereotype.In 2003, Taco Bell had to pay out over $40 million to two guys who claimed Taco Bell had stolen the

It's The Ads, Stupid

Last week, in a post called "What Is Good Creative And How Do I Get It" we saidCreativity is what happens after the strategy is done. Creativity is the process that transforms a strategy into a terrific ad. A great example is the Dos Equis campaign, "The Most Interesting Man In The World." According to Ad Age, for the first half of this year, Dos Equis sales grew 17%, while the category (

Two Years Later

This is the second anniversary of The Ad Contrarian.I started this blog with three goals in mind.1. Shoot my mouth off2. Expose bullshit and challenge hypocrisy3. Harness my insomniaI don't know if I've accomplished anything, but at least I have something to do at 3 am.I have noticed that some fairly popular ad blogs have packed it in this year, including Scamp and Dear Jane Sample. I can see why

Disgracing The King

Earlier this week we went to see the King Tut exhibit at the De Young Museum in San Francisco.It was a disgrace.I'm not a purist. For a time, I was special assistant to the executive director of a large museum. I understand that museums need to make money. But this was shameful.Although we had tickets for a specific time, we had to wait in two long, annoying lines. When we finally got into the

Your Vote Counts!

Last week, we learned that PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) believes we would all start treating fish more kindly if, instead of calling them "fish," we started calling them "sea kittens."To be honest, I have very little personal contact with fish other than every now and then taking pieces of dead ones and sticking them in a taco.Nonetheless, this is apparently a serious issue

Only In California

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) thinks we would treat fish more kindly if instead of calling them "fish" we started calling them "sea kittens." This is not a joke.Because of the budget deficit in California the state is planning to close a bunch of state parks including one called Pescadero State Beach. Pescadero means "place to go fishing."PETA have offered to pay to keep the

Nasty Little Things Called Facts

(Last week we had a very spirited debate over whether the internet has "changed everything, utterly" as one of my commenters claimed. Obviously, he can't have meant what he said literally. Presumably he still brushes his teeth -- let's hope that hasn't "changed, utterly." I assume what web zealots mean when they make overblown statements like the above is that the web has changed 'everything

"What Is Good Creative And How Do I Get It?"

(I was rummaging through my laptop the other day and I found a talk I gave to a group of ad agency owners a few years ago on the subject of creativity. I have done a tiny bit of editing to get it up to date. Other than that, it remains as it was.)The subject matter of my talk this morning is "What is good creative and how do I get it?"My intent is to take us through a course of logic in the hope

Bozos de Zappos

If you're an agency person, I highly recommend reading "Is 30 Minutes Too Much To Ask?" by Mike Wolfsohn, ECD at Ignited.The piece is about Ignited's experience pitching Zappos (the darling of the Twitter crowd.)As Mike says, "Like more than 80 other shops around the country, we were lured by the Zappos cattle call."Without stealing Mike's thunder, here are some highlights from the piece:Ignited

Extremely Good At Something Specific

An interesting piece appeared in Adweek last week entitled, "In The Shadow of the Founders."The thrust of the piece is that it is often difficult for agencies to survive the exit of a charismatic founder.The piece spotlights the troubles that have dogged agencies like Riney, Fallon, and Cliff Freeman as the founders have either left or taken reduced roles.Of course, it is true that the exit of a

Friday Follies

Best price ad of the week. Here.3 Lousy Things About Getting Old1. Your skin becomes a garden of biological oddities.2. Pretending you're interested is harder than ever.3. Even people you like are annoying.And Speaking Of Growing Old Gracelessly...88-year-old legendary adman Julian Koenig can't let go of his feud with his former partner and legendary egomaniac George Lois. Listen to Koenig's

A Skeptic's Guide To Twitter

I've been a pretty vocal critic of Twitter.Nonetheless, I have given it a chance. I've been on it for about 8 weeks now, and I'm ready to issue my final report.It's a mixed bag.1. I stand by my initial evaluation that, for the most part, it's how the narcissistic keep in touch with the feckless. This opinion has only been reinforced by the growth of celebrity Twittering and the phony sense of "

Like We Said...

On July 3, in a post called "Iran: Twitter's Blair Witch?" we wrote,"Tyrants don't get to power by being stupid....Technology isn't only effective at spreading information. It's also pretty good at suppressing it."Twenty-four hours later a "denial of service attack" began on US government and South Korean government websites. The suspected perpetrator: North Korea.

Plastic Surgery For Business

Several years ago I was in Los Angeles casting for a tv campaign. Before the casting session began I was thumbing through the head sheets and saw that an actress who had had a starring role in a very popular sitcom was coming in on the call.The sitcom had been canceled at least 10 years earlier, but in the head shot she looked exactly as she had on the show. Although I knew she had to be close to

When Bad Trends Collide

This is a particularly dangerous time for marketers.There are two bad trends converging on the marketing world. The multiplier effect of both together is more dangerous than the sum of the two.First is a bad economy. Very few are immune to its effects.The second is a new, unproven theory of marketing that is being accepted as fact by a gullible, frightened marketing community.Take a company that

Conversation With A Web Maniac

This past weekend I had a web conversation with a guy named Felix Velarde who runs a company called Underwired in the UK. The conversation was conducted via comments on a blog post of mine from April entitled "The Thing That Will Change Everything."Dave Trott, one of the UK's most respected admen, sent Felix over to TAC to read the post knowing Felix would disapprove. Here's the conversation

Iran: Twitter's "Blair Witch?"

In 1999, a cheaply made, independent horror movie became a huge hit. The Blair Witch Project, which was filmed for a reported $35,000, earned about $250 million worldwide.One of the reasons for its remarkable success was the brilliant use of the internet to promote the movie.As usual, the idiots in the media and in the marketing world, mistook a one-off phenomenon for a "thing that would change

3 Words That Should Scare Every Client

If John Wanamaker were alive today, he might re-state his famous maxim:"I know half of what my agency tells me is bullshit, I just don't know which half."If you're feeling that way, here's a tip.Anytime someone at the agency starts a presentation with the words "Consumers told us..." that's a good time to get out the boots and shovels.You see, the key to success in the ad business for the past

Emotional Connections vs Logical Connections

On many occasions I have poked fun at "branding", "brand babble" and their many incompetent practitioners. And while that is great fun, there are some serious points to be made.There are a few product categories that are highly reliant on brand perceptions. These tend to be categories in which the products are essentially frivolous commodities - soda, cigarets, beer/booze, fashion.These products