Back in my university days in Vancouver, I was responsible for putting on Performing Arts shows in our Student Union Building (SUB). There were musicians, poets, even a hypnotist, b ut mostly music. A band from Winnipeg was in Vancouver and struggling in early 1969. They were recording but needed some money; so we decided… Read More: Guess Who’s Labour Cost »
One significant service that retailers should provide would be a “husbands’ chair” for the partners of their female shoppers. And another would be free wifi or a TV to go with the chair . These will pay off in no time for retailers. Females love shopping. Men, not so much. But women love to have their… Read More: The Husbands’ Chair »
My very first assignment at Young & Rubicam New York in 1972 was to work on the Rums of Puerto Rico account. The advertising goal was to promote the many rums that were produced on the island, which included Bacardi, Don Q, and many more that were less well known such as Ronrico, Ron Superior,… Read More: Getting the Test Kitchen Staff Drunk »
Many people think that “Stooge” is just a term coined by the Three Stooges. Not so. There are stooges in advertising all the time. When a movie came out in 2012, the Three Stooges came back to the public’s top of mind attention. A stooge, by definition, is a shill, a confederate who acts as if he… Read More: Stooges in Advertising »
Are origin myths true? No matter, they set the trajectory.
In the mid-1970s, my parents arranged for a condo in Florida when I was living in New York. We had a family summer vacation, joined by my brother-in-law and sister and their two small girls, aged 5 and 6 who had come down from Canada. One day we were all heading off to dinner with… Read More: Stories Have Staying Power »
Necessity breeds invention. As a graduate student, one February I was reduced to living off of green beans and wieners. That motivated me and led to the publishing a highly cited study in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, with the help of a very kind professor. As a poor grad student at the University of… Read More: Green Beans & the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology »
Shooting commercials is an intense process. Very intense. You usually have one day to capture everything you need that’s in your script and then some. You are paying a lot of people on that one day to get exactly what you want and they are all there that day and then …it is over. What you… Read More: Don’t Speak to the Director! »
When you have the opportunity to shoot a commercial with a top rock group, you have a narrow time window to shoot through. And you only get one chance. Their time is in high demand when they are on top – it may not last and must be exploited quickly. I have had the opportunity… Read More: We Shot a Snow Leppard »