Adpulp

Advertising News and Know-How

You are here: Home / Archives for Copywriting

Copywriting

By

Dole Sunshine Company Urges His Holiness to Redeem the Apple

Long copy. I won't say it's a lost art. I dislike that combination of words. Where does lost art go when it gets lost? Long copy is no lost art. Long copy is merely out of fashion in a world full of obsessed scrollers who never make it past the headline. Given the circumstances, I duly appreciate Dole Sunshine Company's letter to His Holiness, Pope Francis. The letter seeks to restore the good name of ‘forbidden …

Continue Reading about Dole Sunshine Company Urges His Holiness to Redeem the Apple →

By

This Promotional Campaign for Potato Chips In A Can Is Bonkers

A non-player character (NPC) is a video game character that is controlled by the game's artificial intelligence rather than by a gamer. The game Train Sim World has scores of such characters and now Pringles is working with Dovetail Games and Xbox to introduce a new NPC who will serve as a Pringles vending machine re-filler. The idea also features a promotional twist. The vending machine re-filler NPC will be based …

Continue Reading about This Promotional Campaign for Potato Chips In A Can Is Bonkers →

By

Jane Lynch Enjoys Illinois, Invites You To Do Likewise

"Enjoy Illinois" is the new travel and tourism campaign for the Land of Lincoln. The two words (Enjoy Illinois) rhyme, are easy to recall and suggest good times ahead. https://youtu.be/hTnlUw2yeF8 I also like the positioning line used in the campaign, "Welcome to the middle of everything." For the state of Illinois, it's the perfect tagline. The state is a bit east of center geographically speaking, but when it …

Continue Reading about Jane Lynch Enjoys Illinois, Invites You To Do Likewise →

By

The Machines Have Moved In. The Machines Have No Feelings.

I am a writer. I write ad copy, journalism, poetry, fiction, and essays—not necessarily in that order. Because I am a writer, I want to laugh at the idea that a machine can do what I, or what any writer does for a living. Sure, a machine can spit out words, I get that part. But is that good enough today? Can machine-generated words move customer automatons to respond favorably? Can an AI copywriting platform (that …

Continue Reading about The Machines Have Moved In. The Machines Have No Feelings. →

By

IHOP Feels Our Hunger—Is Uniquely Prepared to Feed Us Pancakes

"Right about now, we could all use a pancake." It's a presumptuous statement from IHOP, but it's also a true statement. We, the People, could use a pancake. https://youtu.be/6biyfxFSLvw I do like this bit of positioning: "For parents who've been making their own pancakes, and for night owls who missed staying up 'til dawn..." It's an admission that COVID wiped out our routines—not just how we work today, but …

Continue Reading about IHOP Feels Our Hunger—Is Uniquely Prepared to Feed Us Pancakes →

By

Stop Wasting Words

Do you ever notice that curious thing that happens when you really think about a word? You may sit there thinking what a strange collection of sounds and noises to mean something so specific, so nuanced. There's so much meaning from seemingly so little. Isn't language fascinating? How do we make complex associations from what are effectively refined grunts? Maybe our brains are magical. Then poof. The meaning …

Continue Reading about Stop Wasting Words →

By

A Conversation Between Copywriters

S. Todd Anthony kindly requested a Zoom meeting with me last month. During the meeting, he asked me a lot of great questions about advertising, copywriting, clients, mentoring, and more. The full interview is available on his LinkedIn page, right now. It will also be published on Pinwheel's blog. For a taste, scroll down to the three questions I chose to highlight here. Todd is the executive creative director …

Continue Reading about A Conversation Between Copywriters →

By

Hunting Has Its Own Virtues, Virtue Signaling Isn’t One of Them

Here I find peace. Here we are free. Here the tradition continues. Here it's your season. Question. Why make a thinly veiled political advertisement (favoring one side) when the intent is to sell deer hunting equipment to all who hunt deer? Question. Who would be more likely to go deer hunting—Don Trump or Joe Biden? Free To Be You (Enter the No Judgment Zone) By using the words, "Here we are free" and "Here …

Continue Reading about Hunting Has Its Own Virtues, Virtue Signaling Isn’t One of Them →

By

Political Ads Get Properly Skewered By A Major League Baseball Team

Politics is such an ugly sport, unlike baseball. Baseball is life-sized chess with cleats. Baseball is also America's pastime, and politics is not. Politics is America's wasteland. And politics in a presidential election year is even worse. All of which leaves the American public hungry for something good, something original, and something fun. Something like this self-promo campaign from the Texas …

Continue Reading about Political Ads Get Properly Skewered By A Major League Baseball Team →