Sports Are Back to Save the Ad World
In case you missed this memo while watching CNN bash President Trump in every story or opting for Fox News’ overt love for the President in every story, let me remind you that SPORTS MATTER. They mater because they generate revenue. They generate jobs. They generate passion. Now with the return of the National Football […]
The COVID-19 Commercial Pivot
Okay, so where am I? I’m just like the rest of you, hunkered down watching Anderson Cooper talk to 22-year-old Harvard researchers predicting a two-year nightmare of mask wearing and hearing reports from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti tell us that the Hollywood Bowl is closed this year and we won’t have sports until 2021. […]
The Biz: Want to be a Good Boss? Read this….
I came into the advertising business in 1974 at the age of six. I was the manager in a department of one for my dad’s side home business preparing and disseminating press releases via the United States Postal Service. I prepared envelopes sticking the 1″ x 2-5/8″ white labels perfectly straight on number ten sized […]
The Best and the Worst of the Super Bowl LIV Commercials
Photo: Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images Okay, so where am I? Let’s just say that The Comeback Chiefs just scored three touchdowns in the final few minutes in Miami to earn their first Super Bowl win in 50 years. That ought to narrow it all down. On Sunday, huge brands like Tide and Pepsi once again spent […]
What I Learned from Professional Wrestling
Last week marked the another death from one of my childhood legends, Rocky Johnson. He was one of the first black wrestling champions (in fact, the first tag team champion) and brought class to sport that is seldom know for that characteristic. RIP Rocky Johnson. Saturday mornings were never the same without you. His death […]
Class of 2019 Media Guy Hall of Shame Inductees
Okay, so where am I? I just got back from a whirlwind tour of Finland (Kemi, Lapland, Helsinki) and Russia (Saint Petersburg, Moscow) and it’s time to get caught up. As you can see from the graphic, the call for ANDY Awards entries has been announced. As you know I am an award junkie so […]
The Biz: Curating In-Store Music
In the last two installments of The Biz, I told you origin stories about my life in the New York ad agency world, including fake vampires, Schlep-Rock bosses, phone stabbings, death threats, and furniture throwing. Just in time for Black Friday, I take you inside the in-store shopping experience, specifically the music that plays while […]
Eating Alone Can Be Your Virtuoso Moment
Okay, so where am I? I’m at a local eatery working, of course, on finding the next big idea. The last few years have been fruitful on my pursuit of these grand plans for advertising and marketing grandeur. It never stops. But the quest for being great should never stop. Employers and businesses want that. […]
The Biz: Art Director Kits and The Man in the Hathaway Shirt
In the last installment of The Biz, I recalled origin stories about my life in the New York ad agency world, including Schelp-Rock, copywriters, and would-be vampires. In the continuing saga of agency life, here’s an ode to a shirt ad that inspires even today… *Read the copy below… Back at the agency I was […]
The Inspiration of Mikey
When I was six and in first grade I used to walk myself home two miles alone, grab the key under the fifth brick from the back row of the orange box that sat on my Inglewood apartment porch, left myself in the house, lock the door behind me and turned on the babysitter known […]
