My Thumb Is My Cock

A copywriter that was out of ideas

Sometime, in some agency, a copywriter was asked to write a bit of copy for the front of the box of Kellogg's Corn Pops. The brief probably said something about describing the delicious taste of Corn Pops without referencing sugar or sweetness, because those are things that make kids fat.

His solution: Big yellow taste.

I guess I can't blame him.

My bright white tuxedo

This is a sort of follow up post to that Ira Glass thing from a few weeks ago - I stumbled upon this Harvard commencement speech Conan O'Brien delivered to the class of 2000 there. It's an entertaining speech throughout, but the great part is an analogy he makes for the need to succeed when all you've known is success. It's 20 minutes worth watching, but you can pick up the important bit by clicking the square in the bottom row, one from the right, or just by reading on:



"I've dwelled on my failures today because, as graduates of Harvard, your biggest liability is your need to succeed. Your need to always find yourself on the sweet side of the bell curve.

Because success is a lot like a bright, white tuxedo. You feel terrific when you get it, but then you're desperately afraid of getting it dirty, of spoiling it in any way.

I left the cocoon of Harvard, I left the cocoon of Saturday Night Live, I left the cocoon of The Simpsons. And each time it was bruising and tumultuous. And yet, every failure was freeing, and today I'm as nostalgic for the bad as I am for the good.

So, that's what I wish for all of you: the bad as well as the good. Fall down, make a mess, break something occasionally. And remember that the story is never over."

Let's all stop feeling bad about making a mess.

This time, I'll fail.

(click strip to read)


I think most creatives (excepting the not-over-the-top-arrogant ones) think this way. Ogilvy wrote that every time he got a fresh assignment, he thought to himself "This time, I'll fail." I think that's an important and even productive mindset. You think better in a panic. The best ideas always occur to you in the last seven minutes.

via Words & Pictures

Hotness up to here

Converse may be wasting their money on big-budget singles, but here they are again, and this time, their efforts aren't a complete waste of ad dollars. It's a series of shorts (I refuse to use the fucking buzzword "webisode") featuring "out of your league girl". She doesn't say anything of consequence, but she manages to be generally amusing, and she's pretty hot. It kept me entertained, and I'm not even a teenage boy. This is how to get your target shopping on your website. And in terms of viral potential, every episode has its own url. Nice touch.