We must fight ambiguity

Ambiguous copy and lazy line breaks conspire to create a whopping WTF?

Here’s an ad from Harper’s Magazine (not a cheap media buy) that seems to go out of its way to confuse the reader.

Is the man on the bike an “incomparable senior” who happens to be living in Pennsylvania? Or, as the client hoped, is this about a senior living facility in Pennsylvania that just happens to be incomparable?

This is ambiguity as its finest.

Furthermore, “incomparable” is a lazy adjective that really adds nothing to the subject. All things can be compared to other things if you have the imagination and language skills.

Could Pennswood Village not be compared to a five-star resort or Disney World or Heaven or a metaphysical state of some kind?

Clarity is king when it comes to writing good content. Fight ambiguity. Hire John the Writer.

 

 

 

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Yorkdale Mall thinks we’re all idiots

Cute idea Yorkdale. I get it. Little race cars for the kids.

DO NOT PUT CHILD IN BAG! Seriously?

I would refuse to write this copy on principle

Attention Yorkdale shoppers: DO NOT PUT CHILD IN BAG! Seriously?

And the thing that offends me the most is the exclamation point. Does the message need the help of an exclamation point?

Maybe a smiley face?

 

 

Interesting rituals of highly creative people

Daily Rituals is being published in the U.S. and Canada by Alfred A. Knopf, in the U.K. by Picador, and in Brazil, the Czech Republic, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Turkey by fine publishers in those countries.

Notice that blogging and surfing the web never show up.

I’m glad to see that so many writers stick to routines. I always found that my most productive days happen when I hit the keyboard at 8am and avoid opening email until 9:30. This hour and a half is quiet and productive. My actual output is closer to what I might achieve in 4 hours during the busier times of day.

Here’s a good review of “Daily Rituals” on Good Reads.

Kafka is one of 161 inspired—and inspiring—minds, among them, novelists, poets, playwrights, painters, philosophers, scientists, and mathematicians, who describe how they subtly maneuver the many (self-inflicted) obstacles and (self-imposed) daily rituals to get done the work they love to do, whether by waking early or staying up late; whether by self-medicating with doughnuts or bathing, drinking vast quantities of coffee, or taking long daily walks. Thomas Wolfe wrote standing up in the kitchen, the top of the refrigerator as his desk, dreamily fondling his “male configurations”. . . Jean-Paul Sartre chewed on Corydrane tablets (a mix of amphetamine and aspirin), ingesting ten times the recommended dose each day . . . Descartes liked to linger in bed, his mind wandering in sleep through woods, gardens, and enchanted palaces where he experienced “every pleasure imaginable.”

Read more…

 

Long live Chuck

If you’ve visited my Big Head Adventures on Pinterest, you know that I have a cylindrical bond with Charlie Brown. I love this video because it reminds me that the magic of the Peanuts is timeless. Chuck will always be one of my writing heroes.

 

Your retirement cafe

Because it won’t be mind any time soon. 

Sun Life Financial has spent big and planned well for this version of branded content that I found from a link on a retirement site. The link was well placed in a relevant article. The content is simple. Visitors are always a click or two away from going deeper into a planning module.

No doubt, the future of communication for financial services will include a lot more watchable content. What the Sun Life site proves, and what we all know, it that watchable content appeals to every demographic.

I’ve been for a good film since ‘Bubba Hotep’. This could be it.

Description ripped from the AdWeek website: How many times have you busted out a well-known advertising slogan because it seemed to be the wittiest thing to say in a conversation? Never? Fine, wordsmith, but the rest of us are guilty of falling back on at least a few marketing clichés. A new indie flick, called And Now a Word From Our Sponsor, takes this lazy practice to extremes. The befuddled hero, an “ad genius” played by Bruce Greenwood, reappears after a mysterious absence spouting only fast-food, shampoo, cereal and seatbelt-safety taglines. His dialogue in the trailer alone spans several decades of commercials, piling up more brand references than even most TV babies could quickly identify. Having the script mostly crafted by Madison Avenue must have saved the writers a lot of time. The movie, which could double as a drinking game or trivia contest, also stars Parker Posey and Callum Blue. It premieres May 6 on VOD and May 10 in theaters. Check it out if you feel like you deserve a break today.

From the sketchbook of John Ellis. See more at www.AnIncompleteThought.com.

From Co. Design, March 27, 2013. Andrea Dezsö is a Transylvania-born, New York–based artist teaching at Parsons the New School for Design. The requirements for her sketchbooks are many: “I am very particular about the kind of paper used, the feel of it, the smoothness, the shade, the transparency,” she says. What fits the bill? Muji lined notebooks, the covers of which she decorates with everything from stickers to paper cutouts.

Co. DESIGN never asks for my sketchbook doodles. I wonder why.

The Fast Company team has once again published some great pages from the sketchbooks of top creatives. This is worth a visit to see what people are doodling in meetings. It’s great stuff.

If you’d like to see what I’ve doodling over the years, check out An Incomplete Thought, my harmless musings on life in the digital age.

Should you bother reading Camus?

Albert Camus on Ellisism, posted by John EllisCamus himself may say, “Why bother reading Camus?” 

The Wheatsheaf Literary Society is currently exploring the work of Albert Camus, a self-described anti-nihilist writer who denied any involvement in the french existentialist movement. He knew Jean Paul Sartre, the great existentialist, and the two men agreed that Camus was not an existentialist. But does it matter? Should you get past the intellectual bullshit and read Camus? Yes. Once you start, you’ll find yourself in used book stores buying up all of his short, remarkable clear, memorable works. ‘The Stranger’ is as good a place as any to start. You’ll find an excellent review in the New York Times.

 

 

 

 

Branded content works for Dupont

When I get briefed on branded content it’s usually because a client has little money. Here’s what Dupont was able to do with its enormous budget. Hey, why not create a television series?

Kid President makes a little sense

I haven’t blogged in a while because I’ve been busy with a project taking place in Memphis. That’s how I came across this little guy. I don’t know if he wrote all the words but they sound pretty sensible to me.

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