Man The F*** Up

My pet peeve as a writer is the sentence structure: "whether it's xyz, or yzx - you'll be blah blah blah". Also would like to add "Got XXX?" to the copywriter burn box. That happened already -- you can't just "insert your product here" into a sentence that already sold something else. That's just sloppy. Anyway Dingleberry, I'm with you 100%. Thanks for saying it so eloquently.

"it is what it is" is my current albatross. so many people use it as a cop-out for their own personal/professional failings.

on the other hand, maybe it's just me, and i simply don't understand what the definition of the word "is" is.

nah, i'm pretty sure they're just asshats.

anyway, welcome aboard.

you're 110% right!

Agreed.
There's only one lazier practice that should have gone away long ago.
The ubiquity of profanity in blog pieces. Or any copy for that matter.
Especially in this industry.
I know, I know. We can wear what we want, say what we want.
"Express ourselves."
It's what makes us the self-appointed rock stars of art & commerce.
But what's the difference between reading the words fuck and, and?
It's not shocking, if that's the intention.
It contributes next to nothing.
Expletives are completely devoid of meaning and have lost all their power.
OMG. FM.
They have become prepositional phrases, at best.
How many ad folks do you know who could, their lives hanging in the balance, speak a sentence without the aforementioned verbal crutch?
That's laziness masquerading as what? Attitude? Individuality?
It fucking is what it fucking is.
See what I mean?

Great insight and well-said. The amount of creative studios that are willing to settle for that easy cop-out is ridiculous, and that ABC line-up you mentioned is a perfect example.

These studio-executive types need to be prevented from breeding...seriously. Either start broadcasting something new or get out of the creative industry and go find yourself a government job.

Anyway, keep up the good work, Dingleberry. Look forward to reading more articles.

-Dane

Once I realized this entire piece was devoted to whining about people using the word "redefine", I quit reading. Really, that's what this whole editorial is about?

You just redefined boring me to tears.

People are scared and complacent. Those people suck. They suck the life out of potentially compelling, interesting, exciting ideas and concepts and shoot those ideas down because "in this economy we can't take that risk". They suck the d!ck$ of those around them so when the next round of layoffs come, there's no way they could possibly get the axe.

I'm scared, but for the right reasons...that if I stop coming up with fresh and creative ideas I'll become one of the assholes I talk about and well, that just simply isn't going to happen...not on my watch. "Got Balls?"

Remind me not to have a beer with you.

The breck brewery employee who wrote the menu description would tell you to lighten up.

The advertising professional with years of experience would laud your idealism and encourage your creativity. Then buy you a beer and let you vent because the client chose to buy your safe and effective concept over your creative concept.

Client's want creative work. They just want it to be inoffensive, safe, full of multiple talking points and simple enough for a brain dead meth addict to understand.

I strongly believe that all creatives should push for something not only beyond the norm but beyond themselves. The only acceptable work I've ever produced came from doing my homework, pitching many, many, many ideas and then working hard until something beyond myself came in and gave me the "Big Idea".

I feel that in our fast-paced world not enough creatives sit back and actually think before they start writing, designing, etc. Many times they aren't allowed the time to do so because of extreme deadlines however, we all know when we see great work. It moves us, it makes us aspire to something bigger, it can even make us see ourselves as creatives for who we are and what we want to be. Unfortunately, too many times ads makes us feel as if we could have done far better but isn't it great when we see the ones that make us feel inspired.

I'm with dingleberrytheif ... take the risk... not only will you not be a pussy, you'll feel much more satisfied doing your job.

Nice Dingle.

Now go take a risk and ask out that person you keep thinking about asking out but never "got around" to asking out. Go on. Go.

I wear sandals and jeans to church. It feels respectful yet St. Francisish.

Forget the copy. How was the beer?

this article is excellent.
the new show on FX, Louie, is awesome and is great television. much better than anything on ABC. and it redefines comedy. actually it doesn't, its basically seinfeld, but with louis ck, and its hilarious.

Yes, did the beer "redefine" hoppy beers?

"Man The F*** Up"?

More like "Man The Fuck Up", you woman.

Thanks for stopping by with your inspirational commentary.

Great ending! I hope you fuckin' post more often. Nice blog as well.

The easy thing to do is to say that it's "all about the work" and that "nothing else matters". But that attitude, like so many other editorial pieces from this dingleberry and others on this site, is completely and utterly divorced from reality.

Hollywood studios make cop dramas because people consistently tune into cop dramas. "Crap" advertising exists because clients consistently buy work that's safe and inoffensive.

Our business isn't about making art; it's about making money.

@jason So you'd prefer that we all just start writing pieces that acknowledge all advertising is shitty and that there really is nothing worth fighting for any longer? Dude, it's okay for us to be idyllic and wishful and push people harder on this site. That's what it's here for.

Problem is we see so many of these types of "get off your ass and be more creative" posts and all of them come off the same way: all preaching and no genuine, workable advice. Yeah we should all strive to produce nothing but the best, we get that. How about an article on how to sell your creative ideas to clients who tend to be conservative? Certainly someone in the Egotist network has experience with this. Or perhaps an essay from someone who's survived a beat down by a conservative client? I guess what I'm saying is how 'bout a little more inspiration?

@The Denver Egotist, @ Anonymous

Exactly. We get it. Creativity is king. Nothing else matters. Don't settle. Right. Got it.

This was a 675 word editorial call-to-arms for originality, yet it's not even an original editorial idea for the Egotist.

Of course there's nothing wrong with idealism in and of itself, but it's a child's view of our industry. Surely the Egotist too can be pushed a little harder to go a little further.

You're right. We hear you. The next (useful) rant is in the works.

And by the way, feel free to send us your editorial thought pieces anytime. We have an open invitation for anyone to write (useful) stuff for us.

Dingle,
You want Denver to have an ad culture that isn't satisfied with overworn turns of phrase. You're unhappy enough to spend a good amount of time writing about it and you're serious enough to put it on the Egotist so you can start a dialogue.

I'm with you. I want the same things. I just don't think this is the best way to go about it. Frankly, I think this post is a waste of time. Go ahead and check the archives of the Egotist. 3 years of rants. They sound strikingly similar. That isn't change.

As advertisers, we're trained in using our creativity to solve problems. I think you could have done a lot better in this regard. Off the top of my head, I'll come up with 3.

1. Start a sticky post with the Egotist that lists every hackneyed advertising phrase and copy trick you can think of and then invite others to add their own.

2. Approach the people at Breckenridge. Tell them you're a copywriter who loves their beer. Don't criticize their copy, that will piss them off and make them defensive and when people are defensive, nothing positive happens. Start a dialogue, earn their trust, and it's possible you could end up writing for them, sharing your philosophy on writing, get some free beer, and have a great story to tell here in the Egotist.

3. Start a blog called something like "The Denver Copyists Society." Invite copywriters from the area to submit guest posts. Every Denver writer who has talent but no system to support it would have an arena to develop their craft and their confidence in pushing their ideas harder at work.

I just wrote a post for my blog about this.
http://www.bigfuckinglogo.com/frustration-is-like-a-heavenly-choir
I think frustration is one of the biggest opportunities we can find in life and you have a beautiful one right here.

I'm with you homey. I want to see inspiring work pour out of Denver. But I think you're sabotaging yourself with a post like this. "Man the Fuck Up" doesn't sound like a title written by someone with impossibly high standards. It sounds like someone with an axe to grind and no real vision beyond sharpening his blade and feeding his maniacal fervor. Who wants to work with someone like that?

Faithfully,
Fernando

http://bigfuckinglogo.com

Rich Black,
I think using profanity is an agent for positive social change.
http://www.bigfuckinglogo.com/why-i-love-fucking

i like the way these guys market their beers:

http://www.oskarblues.com/the-brews/old-chub

http://odellbrewing.com/home

http://www.stonebrew.com/home.asp

Do me a favor and stop into one of these breweries and come back with another fascinating article.

I want to see some fucking credentials.

I was waiting for an Adam Carolla reference. That was his brand of rant.

Nice.

I'm with Rich Black on this one. Swearing's cool. I do it a lot...my kids think it's funny, my wife doesn't. But when you use it so ubiquitously, it's just as much a crutch as "It is what it is." Which, by the way...it is. It's the difference between Denis Leary and Louis CK. With Denis Leary it's pretty predictable (like spelling Denis with one "n"). You know the word "fuck" is going to be in there somewhere. It's boring...formulaic. Louis CK thinks about those words and uses them strategically. It's funny, and I laugh. Swear words feel new again and everything is right with the world. That's why I also agree with Matthew_Wyne...errr...Fernando. I like the name Big Fucking Logo. It works because of how it's used, not just because it IS used.

Just my two cents...it is, indeed, what it is.

Jeff
Denver Graphic Design

it sounds like a good beer. I probably would have ordered it.

just to hop on the swear train, I've been a fan of, "Go fist yourself"

What's the most watched or downloaded TV show online? Is it a cop drama? I would really like to know.

if you want to be an artist or a writer, this isn't the right industry. this is corporate america--run by dollar bills. that's all. real artists laugh at advertising. real artists do what they want and aren't tied down to a client's piece of shit budget and shitty art direction. real writers tend to avoid passive voice, even in their rants. if you really want to do something, get off your ass and go make some art. i don't think drinking beer and watching ABC is really going to help inspire you to do anything but write a worthless rant about beer and shitty shows on cable.