For most of my career I have kept a large apothecary jar of candy in my office. Rarely does anyone ask me why. Do I have a sweet tooth? Well, yes. Am I just being generous? That’s doubtful. I do have a jar of candy in my office because it is a great psychological tool.… Read More »
On October 17, 2018, the Canadian government legalized cannabis. The federal government left it up to the provinces to figure out distribution but it seems like no one really did the marketing calculations right. In Ontario, for example, orders are going unfilled despite a move to throttle demand by limiting distribution until next April. The… Read More »
Quite often we see “one off,” “stand alone,” “one shot” ads. These ads are designed for a single purpose – an event, a special offer, a single purpose. But they really miss the boat. Any advertising for a brand or product needs to be part of a continuing dialogue with your target consumers. It advances… Read More »
One of the broadcast laws in Venezuela, back in the day, meant we had to shoot commercials using local Venezuelan talent. One of our clients, Revlon, was a stickler for having their commercials look as exactly like their worldwide creative as possible. Nevertheless, these had to be re-shot locally. One commercial to re-shot was for… Read More »
US Historian Daniel Boorstin, in his book The Image, noted that “The celebrity is a person who is known for his well-knownness.” That was in the 60s. People’s obsession with celebrity is even more so today. Why are people so obsessed with celebrities? One theory is the loss of the village. Our population and communications… Read More »
Often we hear arguments that ring sort of true when they otherwise should not. Some of these I call The Yao Ming Argument. It is when you take an exception and make it seem like the normal, the average. For example, as the US struggles with its messed up healthcare system, people continually point out to… Read More »
Back in the day, before computers and inventory databases, it was tough for store owners to keep track of what they paid for things and what things should sell for. Small stores developed a system for keeping track of cost of goods through codes. Customers may have never noticed but on each item there would… Read More »
The Juno Awards was an annual private music industry awards ceremony for insiders, wearing tuxedos and gowns, until 1995. The organization that put it on was the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS). They had this crazy idea that they should be making money from it rather than losing or at best breaking even. Enter Jacques… Read More »
Our high school janitor was Mr. Mitchell. He was always dressed in a clean khaki uniform, usually attached to a wide hall broom. He took great care of his white, crewcut hair. Always tidy, he liked the place clean. One day, I heard him express his true feelings about his job – “It’s the students… Read More »
In honour of November being Mustache Month for Prostate Cancer, here are two stories about how mustaches have screwed up commercial shoots for me. First case was a Mr. Clean commercial we shot. It was a typical Procter & Gamble commercial. Lady of the house uses Mr. Clean to leave her house looking bright and… Read More »