We had one of those terrible weeks with everybody working until late at night. Tension was all over. So, I gave this idea.
- Why don’t we go to that pool bar next to the agency after work?
The media guy was reluctant. He had a stress with a new writer during a pitch.
- I don’t know…
The writer insisted.
- Come on, it will be cool .
- I have to go home and help my wife with something, I’ll meet you there.
- Hey man, I hope you are not upset with me…
- No, look, I will call you …

Other industries look for the brightest people and train them to do as many things as possible, well.
Our industry looks for the best art directors and copywriters and spends the rest of their careers trying to pigeon hole them into a tighter and tighter box.
You’re a copywriter. You’re a digital copywriter. You’re a digital, financial, copywriter. You’re a digital, financial, social media copywriter. When does it stop?
I have friends who work in other industries and they’ve gone from sales to R&D to marketing to product development. They keep learning and …

I envy the cartoon and comic artists.
And I have no doubt that they influenced me as a copywriter. I always admired the talent to simplify the life in 3 frames or less. Sometimes, without saying a word.
Think about Pearls Before Swine, from Stephen Pastis.
The guy has a pig and a rat, poorly drawn in black and white (no perspectives, no scenarios, nothing) and already published 10 books. You gotta be good in telling stories (and he does it in one style – acid humor) to do it.
So, some days ago …

Ever been punched in the face?
It’s not that bad. I remember the first time I got punched in the face. I was like, “Is that it?” It’s not like on TV where a guy can deliver one punch and drop his opponent. When your adrenaline is pumping, you really don’t feel it. Go ahead, punch yourself in the face.
After I got punched in the face, I was never afraid of physically getting into a fight. I knew I could take it.
I got laid off for the first time about 3 …

When I first started doing ads, I would do my job like a 10-year old. Magic markers and construction paper. One time I went into a conference room to show the ideas I had for Hanes. I brought in a boom box and played the Kiss song, I Love It Loud. The chorus goes “Heeeeeeeeeey, yeah.” And I thought it would be cool if Hanes made a version going “Haaaaaaaaaaanes.” My creative director threw an empty Diet Coke can at me upon hearing this idea. That was the punishment for …

Certain clients love to cram too much copy into film and radio ads.
Cram. Cram. Cram.
Got thirty seconds?
Cram thirty-five or forty seconds worth of talk in there.
Sixty seconds?
Surely that can hold seventy seconds worth of screaming and shouting.
Cram. Cram. Cram.
Apparently they know something about space-time that you, I and even Einstein are incapable of fathoming.
Or…
Or maybe they are perusing your script and it just doesn’t look like there’s all that much copy there in the first place.
Why?
Because you used numbers and symbols instead of letters.
$5.99 perhaps?
Maybe there’s a January 28, 2011 …

Stuck for a snappy headline to advertise whatever must-have necessity it is that you are flogging?
Just fill in the blanks on one of the handy headlines below.
They must be good; they’ve already been used a million times!
We’ve got more _________ than _________.
The art of __________.
Think of it as _____________.
Think __________.
- Craig Cooper