By Sean Averette.
One copywriter's attempt at an outlet. Sometimes thoughts on advertising. Sometimes thoughts on culture. Sometimes thoughts on travel. Most of the time blather.
Monday Morning
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Monday morning.
Whizzing fantastic blur of cars
Destination pre-determined
Motivation un-motivated
Bitter, coffee-fueled rage of road
Emails, texts, calls, calendars
Punch in to punch
A ticket to anywhere else
9 a.m.
I first took the train to visit my sister in Memphis. From my house in Baton Rouge, the drive is a seven hour straight shot north. But by train, it's only an hour longer. Call it my millennial weakness for "experiences", but Amtrak's City of New Orleans train seemed like the perfect opportunity to get a little something extra out of this weekend escape. I boarded at the train station in Hammond. As I approached the ticket window, I was excited from the simple fact that the station smelled well-worn, like a museum. It reminded me of the smells of old wooden pews and choir loft hymnals in the churches that adorn small Southern towns. Spending a Sunday on the train is worship in its own right. Like the congregations gathered outside their churches, all kinds of Americans, all shades, all origins are brought together on the train. Everyone has a different reason for riding. One lady I spoke with stopped flying altogether after her plane was subject to an ...
Before you stick your hands up or roll up your sleeves in preparation for a lengthy diatribe on the justice system, keep in mind that I try to stick to themes of copywriting and creative writing. Today I want to make a case for contrarian copy. Let me give you a second to roll your eyes. This should be a no-brainer. I know, I know. But I've noticed a concerning pattern in the messaging clients want and, in turn, what accounts expects from their copywriters. Utterances like, "Say something positive" or "Can we make it sound positive?", "The headline is too provocative" or, my favorite, "People might ask questions" frequent the conference room (or Zoom/Hangouts/Facetime/Skype call) all too often. We could scream hollow positives of no substance until we're as blue in the face as a suffocating Smurf, but there's no way our audience will actually believe it. What's the point in running an ad if it's not to get someone...
The devil is a salesman. For a time he was limited to carnivalesque used car lots. Sometimes you would see him screaming on a billboard or hear him calling at all hours of the night blasting 1-800 numbers. On occasion he might even stroll right up to your front door and knock twice. But now he is everywhere; streaming his way into our homes. Worse–into our brains. Five seconds here, thirty seconds there is all it takes. There is nowhere he can’t be, and he cannot be turned off. The sad truth of it is, he didn’t barge into our lives. We welcomed him with open palms. We welcomed him with the promise of high-speed connectivity. We welcomed him with the promise of photo feeds. We welcomed him with the promise of on-demand food delivery. We welcomed him with the promise of binge-watching twelve seasons. We welcomed him with pay-per-clicks and hashtags. We carry him to work, to home, to school, to parties and to plays right in our very po...
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