I’ve read a lot of great books about advertising and marketing, but none even comes close to one I read as a teen. It still occupies a prominent place on my bookshelf.
It’s a 1972 text called “Madvertising (or Up Madison Ave.),” and it was created by the same geniuses who guided Mad Magazine through its glory years. Many of those writers and artists had cut their teeth in the advertising industry, and they used the book to skewer the many tricks and techniques major advertisers employ.
JUST BECAUSE WORD DOES IT …
As a society, we’ve developed a frightening level of trust in technology. We often abandon our own knowledge and better judgment because some aspect of technology has a different answer — and it must be correct, right?
Microsoft Word is an amazing piece of technology. I spend several hours with it every day, and I know that I’ll never do more than scratch the surface of its capabilities. But any piece of software is only as good as the knowledge and preferences of its programmers.
HUMOR IS A DEADLY WEAPON
Nearly everyone likes humor. We enjoy telling jokes, and we enjoy hearing them. So it comes as no surprise that companies try to spice up their advertising by using humor.
They reason that humor will catch the reader’s eye or listener’s ear, and make them more amenable to the sales message that will soon follow. Unfortunately, more often than not, those attempts at humor backfire.
A QUICK TEST FOR YOUR COPY’S EFFECTIVENESS
Wonder how well your next ad, website, or brochure will communicate with your readers? Here’s a simple test that’s remarkably powerful.
Count the number of times that your company’s name appears in the text. Then count the number of times words “we,” “us,” and “our” appear in there, and add it to your first number.
EVERY CHICKEN HAS TWO LEGS, TWO BREASTS, AND TWO Cs
I’m always fascinated by words that are frequently misspelled and expressions that are widely misused. Some may blame the mistakes on shared ignorance, but I think there’s something more insidious at work. I think mistakes are contagious. People who see the words misused lack confidence in their own knowledge and mistakenly believe that what they already know must be wrong.
And why is it that store and restaurant owners invariably ask employees who suffer from that contagion to manage the changeable-letter signs in front of their businesses?
MORE GAFFES AND GOOFS
It’s time for our semi-irregular look at mistakes in writing or marketing that may be embarrassing to those who made them, but that are darned amusing for the rest of us.
The local police report listed several calls for “wreckless drivers.” Isn’t that a good thing – drivers who have managed to avoid accidents? I suppose that a reckless driver might be a wreckless driver, but only if he or she is very fortunate.
ADVERTISERS OFTEN DON’T LIVE IN THE REAL WORLD
I’ve noticed a growing, disturbing tendency in advertising. The creative teams who develop concepts for commercials insert terms and references that make perfect sense to them, but are most likely meaningless among the viewers they are trying to reach.
A recent example is a truck commercial that makes reference to “donut eaters in focus groups.” Anyone who has worked in advertising or marketing understood that right away, particularly if they have ever sat on the other side of the one-way glass and watched focus group participants drone on about advertising while gnawing on free food. The creative team displayed its disgust and frustration, and the clients approved it, because they’ve been there, too. I smiled when I heard it.
DO YOU CRAVE FAME OR NOTORIETY?
There are many words that have been misused so often that their meanings have started to blur – and writers who should know better have used the wrong words in the wrong places.
For example, I recently read an article in a national magazine claiming that a particular musician had earned his notoriety by producing a couple albums. “Notoriety” was the wrong word – unless those albums were downright horrible.
HOW CAN YOU INVOLVE READERS?
Looking for a way to catch the attention of your audience and focus their full attention on your message? Instead of telling them what you want to hear, ask them a question that matters to them.
You may have heard that asking questions in headlines and opening statements is a bad idea. For example, I once had a boss who became furious anytime I presented an ad or brochure with a question in the headline. His reasoning is that the reader might give the wrong answer and lose interest.
WOULD THEY STEER YOU WRONG?
The men and women who sell advertising are among the nicest people you will ever meet. In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll also tell you that I’m a salesman’s kid, so I have a soft spot for good salespeople. Many of them have a genuine interest in you and your company’s success, and want to do everything within their power to help you make that happen. But if you’re going to regard salespeople as trusted advisors, please don’t lose sight of who employs them and how they are compensated.
There’s nothing wrong with asking for advice, or even accepting it when it’s handed to you without a request. But before you base your decision on the advice, stop to ask yourself whether the person who provided it has a stake in what you’ll do.