Written by Chris McAdams
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
I get a lot of e-mail. Some days I get so much that I can’t help but to give my inbox a perfunctory glance and only read what piques my interest. And when I’m in one of those moods, I’m reminded of how incredibly important the subject line is and how much thought should be put into creating it.
A great headline can make or break an ad or a story. Same thing goes for e-mail. We in the ad industry have to be careful to craft lines that can only be taken one way. Filthy minds are everywhere. And we go to great lengths to avoid certain word and phrases that, despite good intention, can be taken the wrong way. In his book “Lapsing Into a Comma: A Curmudgeon’s Guide to the Many Things That Can Go Wrong in Print — and How to Avoid Them”, which I highly recommend, author Bill Walsh gives some good advice. He states that every copy desk could use a 13-year-old boy.
Funny as it may sound, it’s true. Case and point: Last week I received an e-mail with the subject line “Happy Finish gets juicy with Ribena!”
I laughed so hard I was almost in tears. Happy Finish is a CGI/animation shop and they were promoting a project they just finished for a juice company. But that’s not what I thought at first glance. Nosiree, my mind took it a different way — the 13-year-old boy way.
Written by Chris McAdams
Thursday, March 03, 2011
Now that I have your attention, I’d like to address a pet peeve of mine. Long headlines? Nope. Profanity? Nope; I embrace it. Compound adjectives without hyphens? Bingo.
My background is in art direction. I make things look pretty. I’m in no way a grammarian, nor would I ever pretend to be. I couldn’t dissect a sentence if my life depended on it. But there are a few grammar-related issues that grate on every artsy nerve in my body. And the all-important-but-often-forgotten hyphen is an old, rusty grater.
Using hyphens is about as easy as chewing peanut butter. If two or more words are used to modify a noun, put a hyphen between the words used to modify the noun. That’s it. Simple? You bet. So why all the misuses? No idea. We aren’t talking about the 11 dimensions in M-theory. Just hyphens.
Let’s use the headline to illustrate. It should read “Area Small-Business Owners Sprout Wild-Ass Hair and Decide to Wow City Council with Big-Ass Presentation.” With all the hyphens in all the right spots, the headline means that owners of area small businesses make a wild decision to wow the city council with a big presentation. However, sans hyphens, the meaning is tad bit different. But it means exactly what it says: short business owners with feral ass hair plan to wow city council with a presentation of unusually large bums.
See? Hyphens make a big-ass difference.
Written by Chris McAdams
Monday, December 13, 2010
I’m a big fan of a lot of little things and, personally, believe that a lot of attention to a few small details can make a huge difference to creative. And that goes for any form — print, interactive, radio, television, etc.
One campaign I’ve noticed the past three years or so that continues to amaze me is Radio Shack. I feel they’ve made a major effort to turn a lifeless, not-sure-where-we’re-going brand into the modern age. And they’ve done so rather quickly.
Perceptions are hard to change. My perception of Radio Shack is based on childhood memories clouded by noxious smells of cheap, plastic toys, weird things in little plastic bags that only a select few know what to do with, and shelf upon shelf of 500-packs of D batteries.
Yet when I see the Radio Shack spots that air today, I’m not haunted by any of those memories. I’m rather intrigued by them. And, as a fan of little things, one of the big little things that I notice are their art cards.
Art cards are often overlooked or, at best, given very little thought. I feel the art card has just as much messaging power as the first, or non-art card, portion of a spot — and in some cases it has even more power.
Take the following screenshot from Radio Shack as an example. The first portion of the spot is the playground for image building. The art card pulls in the retail component and ties it all in together. I love the subtle animation and the not-so-3D 3D text. It’s quick. It’s tasteful, and it pulls together a two-prong message in an easy-to-digest way.
To view the full spot click here.
Written by Chris McAdams
Monday, October 04, 2010
I love this business. It’s fun dabbling in many different industries at once and talking to different people in different ways. And the work we do is subjective and often open to commentary — especially among peers in our industry. I try my best not to comment on what I may think is bad because, more than likely, I’m not a member of the target audience, I don’t know the problem and so forth. But I’ve been watching this one for a while and I just can’t make sense of it.
The problem:
Drake University wanted to showcase the Drake experience, which is a result of the students’ potential and the opportunities that Drake provides.
The solution:
Really? D+? For a university? Again, I just can’t make sense of it.
I’d welcome your thoughts.
Written by Chris McAdams
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
I find it nearly impossible to overstate my level of enthusiasm over the amount of (recycled) waste that comes out of our office. We’re proud of that. And on a mission to produce even more.
So what’s behind our infatuation with trash? Two words: great ideas. Ideas don’t come easily. They’re the result of an excruciatingly painful process of fear, obsessive labor, determination, rejection and a whole bunch of other feelings that fuel the creative process.
But the destination is well worth the trip it takes to get there. So to get to great, we’re tossing everything that’s good (along with the bad and the so-so) into the 31-gallon trash can that has become an iconic piece of office décor.
Bad ideas are everywhere. Just look around and you’ll see what I mean. Banjos, dickeys, toe nails, Rachel Ray – all bad ideas. They cost little in the way of effort to create and the mental challenge they pose is minimal yet they surround us. Good ideas are a little harder to find, but they’re out there.
Great ideas, however, make you stop. They’re beyond creative. They make you think. They justify a feeling, an instinct. You don’t have to search for them. They find you. And once they find you, they stay with you.
I firmly believe that success is the result of a greater number of failures. And turning failures into success takes focus. In our business, great ideas that benefit our clients are how we measure success. And we know that one great idea will likely be the result of a few hundred so-so ideas. So we work hard -- very hard. And we generate a lot of waste.
The next time we present an idea to you, remember there are 31 gallons of ideas that didn’t make it. We invite you to stop by, pop the lid and take a peek. Just don’t pull anything out.
