You Don’t Watch The Oscars for the Commercials, But You Could

Traditional advertising showcases are few and far between today, along with opportunities to appeal to a mass audience. Last night’s Academy Awards is one. According to Variety, the 2023 Oscars earned an audience of 18.75 million—more than double the most popular shows on TV (NCIS and FBI). The best “commercial” of the evening was “I’m […]

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Pet People Have Unique Priorities (Which Freshpet Fully Understands )

Friends, relatives, and strangers may from time to time voice contrary or judgmental opinions about a pet’s place in the family. It typically goes over like a fart in church, and this ad campaign from Freshpet makes comedic light of that fact. Pepper, the dog in “Dinner Date” is a scruffy little scene-stealer. What a […]

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Russian Instruments of War Artfully Repurposed by Ukrainian Musicians

Since the start of Russia’s lethal attack on Ukraine (a war that has killed or wounded 500,000 people), the resilience, grit, and heart of the Ukrainian people have offered a steady beacon of light and hope for a better future in an otherwise dark time. Now, this new campaign to support German nonprofit ArtHelps from […]

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Play with Words and Images

Edward Ruscha is an American fine artist with something significant to say about pop culture and advertising. His work, which sometimes looks like an ad, also has something to teach the makers of pop culture and advertising. According to The Tate: Words and phrases are at the centre of Ed Ruscha’s work and first appear […]

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David Droga Is Always Making, Shaping, and Creating

In this on-camera interview, CNBC’s Tania Bryer asks David Droga, founder of Droga5, CEO of Accenture Song, and the most awarded person in Cannes Lion history, what his secret ingredient is. Droga replies, “Not piss a lot of people off…No, I don’t know, I’ve always been restless and curious. I’ve been lucky that I’ve worked […]

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Why Artificial Intelligence is Not a Replacement for Human Creativity

With the rise of artificial intelligence and automation, it is no surprise that some individuals are beginning to worry about the future of writing. As machines become more advanced, they are now capable of not only mimicking human speech but also producing entire articles, reports, and even novels. This has led to the development of […]

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Heinz Brazil Is Improving the Tattoo Experience for All

In an innovative, relevant, and health-conscious move, Heinz Brazil is developing a proprietary “Heinz red” tattoo pigment using only non-harmful ingredients and making the ink available to tattoo parlors throughout Brazil. The action comes on news that color tattoo ink faces growing restrictions and outright bans in countries around the world. The European Union alone […]

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Long Live the Indie Bookstore

As a former English major, professional writer, and fan of books, I was happy to read in The New York Times that “small booksellers not only survived the pandemic, but many are thriving.” More than 300 new independent bookstores have sprouted across the United States in the past couple of years. Given how bookstore sales […]

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Drift, Wait and Obey—It Worked for Kipling, It Can Work for You

“When your Daemon is in charge, do not try to think consciously. Drift, wait, and obey.” -Rudyard Kipling It’s Thursday and I’d like to throw it way back to ancient Greece and Rome and look at how ancient wisdom can guide us today. According to Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love, the ancient Greeks […]

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Talented Writers Don’t Need The Ad Biz, The Ad Biz Needs Talented Writers

Richard Huntington is chairman and chief strategy officer at Saatchi & Saatchi. He also one of my favorite advertising thinkers. Here’s what he’s thinking now, care of Campaign: It’s the quality of our stories that matters. Stories that resonate because they come from real people and speak to real people and not from the faked […]

FORD v FERRARI: A Classic Tale of Suits Versus Creatives

Have you seen FORD v FERRARI? It’s the true story of the visionary American car designer Carroll Shelby and the fearless British-born driver Ken Miles, who together battled corporate interference, the laws of physics, and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford Motor Company and take on the dominating race […]

There Are No New Ideas. There’s An Abundance of New Ideas.

When someone utters the words, “there are no new ideas,” he’s either advocating for execution (where the magic happens), for the value of mashups and derivatives, or he has no imagination at all because new ideas sprout like fields of wildflowers in the minds of creative people with advertising problems to solve. But what about […]

FCB’s “456 Scale” Helps Global Agency with 8600 People Do Provocative Work

Agencies are judged by their award show hauls. Evidence is all around us. Just look at how much your agency spends to enter the back-slapping contests. Or read the industry press. Here’s a lede from a source I respect—Epica Awards: Until recently, Foote, Cone and Belding felt like a fairly discreet agency, doing solid work […]

Ding Dong. Where’s Your Candy Converter?

Reese’s is not sorry. The Hershey’s brand is not sorry that its candy is superior. Now that Halloween is here, Reese’s is not sorry if you choose to be an anti-social candy hoarder, instead of a good neighbor. In Related News Ad Age reports that Hershey Co. last year put brand PR within its marketing […]

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For Good Things To Happen, Brands First Need To Be Famous

Rory Sutherland is a deep thinker with the ability to cut through the bullshit. It’s an uncommon trait, so let’s pay close attention to the man’s words. When asked what is the biggest challenge for Ogilvy (where he works as Vice Chairman) in the next 10 years, Sutherland cooly replies: “Oh. I think that the […]

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When I Paint My Masterpiece, Everything’s Gonna Be Different

There’s a new website in town. OVER 30 UNDER 30 endeavors to highlight ageism in advertising—a topic a bit too close for comfort for me and many of my peers in the business. On LinkedIn, I recently highlighted the site’s feature on Kevin Kehoe, a creative director who left advertising behind to pursue painting full […]

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Rob Reilly Learns the Importance of Humility…You Could Be Next

Adland, like so much of corporate America, is a place where egotists go to gain control. Many of us have worked for royal pains in the ass, and some of us have been the royal pain. This is why I appreciate Rob Reilly’s recent confession and recommend this talk for all people who manage creative […]

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Entertainment Writers Do Battle with The Savages in Suits

Fade in. The writer’s room is oddly clean, bright, and empty. There’s a cog in the movie making machine. Writers in entertainment, as in advertising, dream it up and write it down. Writers are the spark that lights the story’s fire. In a city and in an industry that manufactures dreams, you’d think that writers would […]

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Unboxing Creativity at SXSW Interactive

AUSTIN—It’s a gray Monday morning in Bat City. My commute to downtown is easy and free parking is available on the east side of I-35. I walk to Rainey Street, where Bose, the country of Australia, and other big brands are temporarily encamped between the permanent food trucks. I am here to visit the Comcast NBCUniversal House […]

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When You’re Brave Enough To Be Vulnerable In Public, You’re Ready To Lead

Radical candor is a form of vulnerability. In business, we don’t see much radical candor or speaking truth to power, because we’ve been trained to bow down to authority and to show up at work with our armor on. Dr. Brene Brown is an authority on vulnerability. She said, “Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, […]

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