May 09, 2008
The Joys of Producing Advertising Copy
After a few recent conversations, after hearing about some others, and after recently reading a few highly questionable local media pieces, I am prompted to write...
One would think, with my varied background, that the idea of producing long-form advertising copy would not appeal to me. Over the last few months, however, I have learned that this is not the case. Quite the opposite, really.
You see, I know I'm trying to sell something. The client wants me to help them sell something. The reader is (at least mildly) interested in buying something. Or they can completely disregard my message if they're not. As long as the copy I produce is not libelous or slanderous or inaccurate or otherwise disingenuous, the free market takes over and the product/service/organization and my accompanying message about it are forced to live or die on their own. And I am perfectly happy with that. Because it's honest.
On the flip side, producing copy that calls itself "objective" -- or at least acting like the copy that's being produced is worthy of being considered "objective" -- and then using that same copy to sell or benefit from a cause/organization/product/idea/event, is, well, dishonest.
I'll stop there. I don't want to ruin anybody's day.
Posted by colrus at 12:12 AM | Comments [0] | TrackBack
May 08, 2008
Quick! Sell Me On Your Part of Town
After almost 6 years, Melissa and I (and now Sam) are looking to move off of Signal Mountain. While we've LOVED living on the mountain, we've grown tired of going up and down it. Even a simple trip, say, to Target has to be planned:
"Are we gonna go anywhere else? Are we going to want to go back off the mountain after we get home? Should we wait until later?"
And let's not even talk about brakes.
So...
Since we are planning to move, I'd love to hear why your part of town (or area) is the best. We're pretty open at this point, so let it fly. Give me three reasons why we should live where you live.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Posted by colrus at 11:36 AM | Comments [4] | TrackBack
May 07, 2008
Items I'll Soon Forget to Mention Unless I Mention Them Right Now...
Last week, due to the unbelievable generosity of my wife's family, my little family was able to join them on a seven-day cruise from Miami to San Juan, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten. We took Carnival, which was MUCH nicer this time than the last. We ate a lot. Slept a lot. Swam a lot. And explained to a lot of folks the reason why Sam was wearing a cast.
I'm pretty sure that 1 in 4 of those people thought we were abusing him. As a matter of fact, after about the fourth day of telling people that "he broke his arm playing soccer with his cousins" and getting mean looks, I wanted to start telling them that "he just wouldn't listen." Of course, I would be in a sweaty Caribbean jail right now if I'd done that. Sam got his cast off today, by the way.
The trip was great. We even saw Chelsea Clinton (for about 20 seconds) in San Juan. She was there helping her mom campaign. A tour guide was telling her about how Mayor Dinkins donated cobblestones to San Juan. Chelsea seemed bored.
I have video of the encounter, and about another hour and a half of moments from the trip. I took a bunch of pictures, too, some of which I hope to post by the weekend. I may even whip up an extended post about the trip.
Former fellow Pulser Angela Tant is once again a co-worker of mine. She started working with us as a copywriter while I was on vacation. I didn't have much time to talk with her today, though, as she, I, and the rest of my department are pretty much slammed right now. The good kind of slammed, though.
We are having a yard sale in a couple of weeks. Baby stuff will dominate the inventory, but other, interesting, non-baby items will be available, too, as we are purging and consolidating as we search for a new place to live off of the mountain.
My sister, brother-in-law, and perhaps niece and/or nephew are coming to visit for Memorial Day. My brother-in-law just returned from a tour in Iraq, and hasn't yet gotten to meet Sam. We plan to show them all that Chattanooga has to offer. So look out, Towing and Recovery Museum!
Softball update: We split a doubleheader tonight. I went 5 for 5, though, with a double, a triple, three runs scored, and two runs batted in. The key? Showing up to play unbelievably tired.
After driving home from Miami yesterday, and working all day today, I should have skipped tonight's games. Of course, I should be sleeping right now, too, and I'm blogging, so... Wait, on second thought, sleep sounds nice. Goodnight, all.
Posted by colrus at 01:48 AM | Comments [1] | TrackBack