For My DH

Cadillac Script Turns Me On

In this recent commercial for Cadillac, Kate Walsh (AKA Dr. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd) delivers one of the best lines I've heard in a while: "The real question is, when you turn your car on, does it return the favor?"

I really like the line. I think it's delivered impeccably and fits perfectly in the spot. But a coworker of mine, also a copywriter, thinks it's lame (and he's a GUY!).

What are your thoughts? Does the line turn you on or off?

Party On!

Almost every company has a holiday or winter party and ours is no different. Last Saturday night played host to our annual winter party, but unlike many other company parties ours has a different theme every year. Megan and I are both members of the planning committee and when you let ad agency employees run with their ideas, you come up with some great results. Check out the pics and video from our Kaleidoscope of Color party!

Truth in Advertising #33

The last week in January is one of the busiest weeks of the year.

We'll have exciting new posts soon. We promise.

The Super Mario Brothers Symphony?

I heard a commercial on the radio the other day and at first, I thought I'd misheard it. It seemed to be promoting some sort of expo featuring songs from classic video games. What? Sounds lame. I proceeded to lump it into the same part of my brain where I remember booming announcements for boat expos and wedding shows and continued on my drive home.

The next day on my drive into work, I hear the DJs on my morning show giving away tickets to something called Video Games Live. Apparently the same show that I'd heard the ad for the night before. It's actually a concert featuring songs from retro video games played by an orchestra. Now I like a game of Pacman as much as the next person and the soundtrack to classic Super Mario Brothers does make me nostalgic for the first generation Nintendo, but and entire concert devoted to the music? Apparently this concert is a big thing—traveling all over the world and selling out. Who knew?

Cool Blog Alert

A friend of a friend (of a friend) found a cool blog called indexed. It's one person posting deep life insights using simple diagrams on index cards. Here's one of our favorite posts about the font Comic Sans. Check it out.

Celebrity should not be mistaken for authority

I recently learned about a bit of hot water Pfizer is in over their Lipitor commercials starring Dr. Robert Jarvik. Now when you watch these commercials, Dr. Jarvik comes across as a licensed, practicing physician who is giving you medical advice. And let's not forget he has some fame from the Jarvik artificial heart he tested in 1982. Being an infant in 1982, I didn't know anything about the case, but it sounds impressive to have an artificial heart named after you—so he must be a good authority on cardiology and cholesterol right?

Wrong. The unfortunate truth be told, Dr. Jarvik, while technically an M.D., NBC reporter Bazell looked into his education early last year, he is not a licensed or practicing physician. After failing to make the grades to get into med school in the US after undergrad, Jarvik went to school in Italy for two years before dropping out. Then he meandered back to the US and finally went and graduated med school from the University of Utah in 1976. But he never interned, did a residency or practiced medicine in any way and he definitely can't prescribe drugs.

Well he's still an M.D. you say—except that by not being licensed to practice medicine, he doesn't have to renew his license, so he doesn't have to continue his medical education like licensed doctors do. Yes, he is still working on making his artificial heart work, 25 years later, but does that really qualify him to recommend prescription drugs on cholesterol? Especially when the tv spots currently airing misleadingly make him sound like a practicing physician who's taking his own advice when he's never prescribed any medicine—ever. Sneaky sneaky on Pfizer's part if you ask me.

I'm not the only one questioning this either. Congress is investigating if Jarvik is giving out medical advice without a license to practice medicine. Check out the spots below and decide for yourself.

Your Mamma Says You're Hungry

Since it's Friday, let's keep it light. These TV spots from Hillshire Farms should do the trick. I love them, but not because they're particularly clever. They're just catchy, fun ads.

Want to see more? A simple search in YouTube brings up a whole slew of 'em. Go Meat!

Truth in Advertising #92

A bag of microwave popcorn is a perfectly acceptable lunch. (Even at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.)

Healthcare Tagline Makes Me Ache

A friend sent over an AdAge article titled "Your Advertising Slogans Are Crummy. Can't You Do Better?"

As a copywriter, I enjoyed reading the article. I also thought it gave the perfect opportunity to rant about a tagline that's bugged me for some time. A nearby healthcare facility used the tagline "Get to know us. Well." Think about that for half a second. Yeah OK, time's up. Is it trying to make the connection between their healthcare services and feeling well? Because if that's the goal, in my opinion, it fails considerably. All I can think about when I hear that tagline is that the healthcare facility wants patients to be frequently, perpetually ill. How do you get to know someone well? You come around. A lot.

The good news is that, apparently, they've changed their tagline since the new year. It's now the much better "Care for Life." Phew.

Thanks for letting me rant. I feel much better. (Hmm...I wonder if their counseling services are any good...)