Creative falls on its ass

I've been guilty of this too. In school while working on creative. Pushing the creative envelope to make an impression.

That's all well and good. When you're trying to get a job in the advertising industry and you have to impress a creative director.

But Summer's Eve, and more specifically, its agency, The Richards Group, is well beyond trying to impress anyone. They're in the business of selling product, not creating a conversation about racial stereotypes or questioning the validity of using hand puppets to simulate talking vaginas. Which is all they've done with their "Hail to the V" campaign.

The brand is taking a beating. Industry folk are talking about the campaign. Most of it centers around the question, "Is it true any publicity is good publicity?" This Adweek piece panned the spot, despite the fact that it pushed the envelope.

Ask Crispin Porter + Bogusky, who was responsible for the Groupon Super Bowl ads.

It hurt the brand. It was creative, yes. No denying that. But the decision to go-ahead, even with the benefit of hindsight, was so ill-advised. In short, this was amateur hour.

Catching Up After Vacation

I just got back from vacation. Well, not so much "vacation" as "long weekend" spent with my family at the lake.

Over my career, I have developed a theory about vacation.

For every three days you take off,
you spend one day playing catch-up.

Here's an addendum:

If someone else tries to do your job,
that 3:1 ratio plummets to 1:1.

The last project I finished before leaving on Wednesday is the initial email for a campaign for a client. It was concise - just five sentences with clear call to action. When I left on Wednesday, the project had been put to bed.

Late Wednesday afternoon, someone from IT had "taken a crack at writing the email." By Thursday afternoon, it was approved by directors, marketing, managers and executives and they had all congratulated each other on the new copy in an email thread I on which I was included.

Monday morning, I had to put an end to this congratulatory circle-jerk before they got their neckties tangled and someone's ass in a sling. (Probably mine.)

The problem is that it is now a full page long and full of run-on sentences, usage errors, two discernible yet ambiguous calls to action, and a condescending tone. Wait... that's not the worst of it.

It also had the wrong website address and company name.

Using what little diplomacy I could muster, I fired out an email asking to hold off until I could "tweak" it. It took two hours to get approval for the delay and then to edit. I was tempted to send it out with corrections noted on the document so they could see just how screwed up it really was.

Instead, I took the high road and knocked it out. And the IT guy who started this whole clusterfuck gave my edited version his stamp of approval with "This should do."

Gee, thanks. I just saved your ass and I get "This should do." To top it off, now the manager who put his OK on Mr. IT's version sends me a follow-up saying, "I have some input. Stay tuned."

My question is "Where was your input when the IT guy took his shot at writing it?" That was one day ago. Still no word from him. I've lost an entire day waiting for his two cents on a project that was done last week.

(I wonder what David Thorne would do, although I would never get away with it because I don't have his charming Aussie accent.)

I'm accustomed to playing catch up after taking time off, but this is ridiculous. I'm beginning to think vacations just aren't worth the extra effort.

Attention Extreme Couponers: Have I Got A Deal For You

We walk into the New York Times Store and see that a transaction is taking place. We hear a typical conversation between a patron and a store clerk.

"I'll take the Times, coffee, a box of Junior Mints and a souvenir Times mug. Wait... you still have the Declaration of Independence? Throw that in, too."

And then, the words retailers hate to hear.

"Oh, wait... I have a coupon."

The New York Times Store is selling an original 1776 broadsheet of the Declaration of Independence. For $1.6 million.

The store is also running a coupon for 10% off on retailmenot.com. It's not good on books, crossword books or gift certificates. But it doesn't say anything about the exclusion of nearly priceless artifacts of Americana.

Usually, I boycott coupons, simply because I'm in the advertising business, and I think coupons do not do a very good job of building brands. But how often can you save $160,000 with one coupon and own a piece of American history?