It’s World Cup time.
And in Brazil, the World Cup is a religion.
Every four years we decorate all the streets and houses with green and yellow.
We spend all our money in jerseys, flags, paint, horns, fireworks and brand new TVs.
And we don’t work at game days. It’s like a month with 7 holidays, if we get to the final.
For advertising, it’s time for new ideas to catch people’s attention.
One of the greatest hits of this year is the talking beer.
You go to the bar, ask for a regular can of beer …

By now you’ve most likely seen (or at least heard of) Nike’s Tiger Woods-Dead Dad spot.
Personally, I detest any and all ads that use dead people out of context.
It may be heresy for a creative to say so, but I’ve never liked Apple’s Think Different stuff.
In fact, I loathe it.
“Hey! Ghandi and Einstein et al were great! So buy our computers!”
Talk about borrowed interest.
I wonder what Ghandi and Einstein et al would say?
We can never know because they were never given a choice in the matter and that’s because they’re …

The US Olympic team may not win gold. Or any medal for that matter. But they’ve already proven something that holds true across any team or organization.
Role players are critical.
Some people thrive in the limelight and need to constantly showcase their skills. Others like keeping a low profile, working in the corners, but always ready to make a big play.  And there are those who bring a healthy mix of skill and grit.
It’s great to have all of them on your team. As long as you know the proper mix.
And …

“Great idea! But, they’re never going to buy it.”
I’ve heard that my whole career.
“Trust me. I know this client and they will never buy something like this.”
The final blow sounds something like this:
“Right now, this client isn’t super happy with us. Are you really willing to fall on the sword for this? Are you really willing to jeopardize our account for this idea?”
You probably know how the story ends.
Does anybody have any advice?
In football, we hate it when our team punts. In life, we punt all the time. But, in …

So Sunday’s the big day. The day when we watch brief segments of America’s most popular sport, sandwiched between lots and lots of ads.
It is perhaps our industry’s biggest day. But is it our finest hour?
In some ways, it is. At no other time do people genuinely look forward to the messages we put out there. People who otherwise detest advertising will actually tell people to ‘shut up, the commercials are on!’
And that’s quite an accomplishment.
But what is it they are watching, exactly? For the most part, it is an …

Back in November, I had no idea that Tiger was about to hit a tree with his SUV and trashy women would begin to fall out…
So much has been written and said about he sorry state of Tigers personal life, I really don’t need or want to chime in here.
But Hell, it sure does back up the point I was trying to make about the media constantly cramming certain people down our throats. And how most of the time a celebrity pitchman is simply a lame substitute for an idea. …