The Dreaded Casting Call
Advertising is my life. That’s well noted. Looking back on some of the big hits over the decades reveals how billions of dollars spent on ad time can perpetuate falsehoods and dig holes that even workers in FDR’s New Deal jobs program couldn’t fill: -Fifty years ago ads for cigarettes were everywhere and endorsed by […]
AMERICAN RED CROSS: You Should Have Called The Media Guy!
Okay, so where am I? I’m waiting by the phone hoping Gail J. McGovern, President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Red Cross, rings me back so we can discuss their outreach advertising. Their swimming pool safety poster channeled their inner Trump nearly alienating African-Americans across the United States. They picked a helluva a […]
Enjoli: A 30-Second Capsule of Sexist Advertising
Okay, so where am I? I’m still hunkered down, North Korean-style*, working with the team to produce our Clio submission. We want to make the April 21st deadline and save the $25 late fee. We shall see. I can tell you that I was inspired by this article about North Korea’s Loyalty campaign where, “North […]
OSCAR WEEK 2016: Yes, We All Dream in Gold!
Yeah, well, I’m an Oscars nerd. I picked up my Oscars credential (sorry, no pictures allowed of the priceless, laminated pass to the biggest awards show on the planet) and was dazzled with the new Oscars print and web media campaign art. I’ve been part of many creative teams that produced some classics for television […]
A Tobacco #TBT
I’ve never done a #TBT, aka Throwback Thursday. Gosh, I feel so old. Tobacco has long been a fascination of mine. When I was growing up in the mid-70s, every magazine seemed to have a super cool cigarette ad with gorgeous, dynamic women and manly men. I learned that since the late 1700s, when the […]
Don Draper…I Owe You.
I may owe my career to Mad Men. “But, why?” you ask… The answer is simple: Advertising was dying in 2007. I mean it was a bloodbath. Budgets were getting sliced like deli meat and the wise guys in accounting were cutting costs and the media departments took the big hits first. Add to that […]
Godzilla and His Loose Connection to Azerbaijan: Me
Okay, so where am I? There’s no truth that I was able to secure a plum seat ringside for the Mayweather v. Pacquiao at the MGM this weekend in Las Vegas…yeah, uh, $4,000 for a ticket just to get in is a bit too much. And, I may or may not be in Azerbaijan looking […]
Summer Dining Series: Heavenly Kosher
The next great dining destination is just down the 101 Freeway, perfectly centered between downtown Los Angeles and Santa Barbara: Oxnard. Okay, so where am I? I am stuck in my Cohiba-soaked loft overlooking the hustle of the City of Angels. Crumpled sheets of typewriter paper building in the trashcan. Another assignment staring me down; […]
Notes from a Tinseltown Weekend
Okay, so where am I? Top left and around: Taylor, Seacrest, Nick Jonas, Ludacris, me, Iggy, the red carpet, Pia Toscano, and my credential. I’m in Hollywood getting ready to fly out on another top secret media campaign. Well, not so top secret, more of a non-disclosure, which binds my silences. Before the free drinks […]
Yippie Ki Yay: Notes and Videos from Tokyo
Just enough time before Christmas to squeeze in a few tidbits from my latest trip in Japan. So here I am knocking out the next season off Miss Pilot and in the middle of it I was called away to a wireless company prove how fast their data speeds are. How did I do it? […]
