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Of puns and other copy miscreants

A lot of copywriters hate puns. The poor pun has been getting picked on left, right and centre since the new school of advertising arrived in the 1970s. Still, the pun is not my most hated entity in the world of advertising copy. I do enjoy a good bad pun; the ones that make your toes curl they are so bad never fail to please me. They’re like a guilty pleasure I indulge in when no-one’s looking. I know they’re bad but I can’t help myself.

However, there are some words and phrases that genuinely irritate me when I see them…

Overheard in a meeting

Ad Exec A: “Alright guys, we’ve really got to be buttoned up. We need to get all of our ducks in a row.”

Ad Exec B: ” Is everyone on the same page? I don’t want to throw anyone under the bus, but the presentation has got to blow them away. No dropping the ball.” 

Ad Exec A: ” After all, we’re not reinventing the wheel here. Lets not overthink this.”

Ad Exec B: “Its about synergy. We’ve got to leverage our efforts to give them something that will really push the envelope”

Ad Exec A: “The plan is to take their temperature with some outside the box thinking.…

SmilingJackasses.com

Alternate title: How Lifestyle Photography is Stealing My Soul

If you’re in advertising (how to tell: you’ve ever uttered/heard “Our client-partner wants to leverage the synergies of this campaign in a targeted, opt-in e-blast” and only thrown up a little bit of your morning Frappaccino®), you know what lifestyle photography is. If not, here’s a brief lesson:

How to identify lifestyle photography in two easy, yet redundant, steps:

1. Look at a print ad

2. Does the person in the ad make you think, “Why is that jackass smiling?”

If you answer “yes,” then you’re witnessing the unholy glory that is lifestyle photography. Formerly the…