Curvin O’Rielly, a man who made the world a more tolerable place
Curvin died yesterday. Cancer took him down. Damn cancer. Angels of mercy with a hospice in upstate New York guided him from this world to the next. Today this world feels more empty for the loss of Curvin O’Rielly.
I never met Curvin. Never even spoke to him. But I knew Curvin.
I knew him first by his work. Curvin was one of those gifted admen who wrote campaigns that were intelligent and soulful. He crafted copy for Saab, BMW, NutraSweet, Saturn and many more that spoke truth artfully and persuasively. I knew Curvin because as a young copywriter I strained my eyes to read his words reproduced in ad award show books. Curvin was a hero of mine, a copy god.
I got to know Curvin thanks to a mutual Facebook friend. She thought we’d like one another. We became Facebook friends, and we liked one another immediately.
We traded stories about working for Hal Riney in S.F. Anyone who ever worked for Riney can swap tales. In San Francisco, Riney stories are traded like baseball cards. Curvin had some very valuable cards.
Curvin began reading this blog and quickly became its top commenter. Since March of 2010, Curvin’s wit and wisdom graced many of The Lint Screen posts. Take a look-see. Often his commentary was better than the entry commented upon. Copy gods do such things naturally.
I urged Curvin to write a book. He had so many great stories, so much wisdom to share. He refused the book idea, but he did write a blog, Ace of Admen. There aren’t a ton of entries, but they are all well worth reading.
While regret I never had the chance to meet Curvin or work with him, I feel fortunate for having known him. He will be sorely missed. The world needs the likes of him more than ever.
This spot from Ogilvy Dublin for Irish Society for the Preventition of Cruelty to Children Summer Campaign is one of the most disturbing and powerful public service spots I’ve ever seen.
No arty metaphors, tone poems or symbolic messages. Just the problem, demonstrated.
You’re not going to like it, but you will remember it. I hope to hell it works.
It’s a game unlike any other. It pits formidable opponents against one another, each vying for the attention of over 200 million eyeballs. Each determined to occupy a sliver of consciousness and a splinter in the sequoia tree of pop culture. It’s the Super Bowl of advertising and here is the critique of Super Bowl commercials from the editorial board of The Lint Screen.
The ground rules are simple: no pre-game sneak peeks or reading about what’s to air. We walk into this venture fresh with eyes untainted by hype. Here’s the blow by blow.Who got their money’s worth? Who blew 3 million bucks?
Ford Focus –– Six Ford Focus cars are going to rally across this great land. Here we meet the teams and their members. Do we care enough to go on-line and follow them? We’re invited. I’m not that intrigued. Pass.
Bud Light–– An amped-up spot spoofing home makeover shows. Our host is over the top enthusiastic about the couple’s ‘new kitchen’ which has a bucket of Bud Lights on the counter. The husband goes nuts, he loves the re-done kitchen. The wife points out it’s the same kitchen, just with a bucket of Bud Lights on the counter. The host agrees and says it is the most popular room of the house. A wild part ensues. Cue the beer pour and a lame end gag with landscapers staking twelvers of BL in the yard. Let’s hope Bud Light didn’t lead with its strongest spot. If they did, it’ll be a long, lame night for them.
Doritos–– A man who inside a house teases his woman’s dog who is outside in the yard. The man thinks he’s safe behind the back door as the dog approaches. Oh, stupid, mean man! Guess what happens? Could it get any more telegraphic? Doubtful.
Audi 8–– Finally, a clever spot. It happens inside a rich guy’s prison as we see the Madoff-rich class languishing in luxury behind bars. Nice sight gags as a prison break is underway. Two fatcats escape. One goes to a Mercedes. The other, an Audi. The Mercedes is a trap– right back to prison for you, richie! The Audi man goes free. Escape the ordinary, there’s your message and there’s even some Kenny G. humor thrown in for good measure.
Doritos–– Creepy guy loves him some Doritos. How much so? So much that he licks Doritos dust from a coworker’s finger and sniffs Dorito’s dust from another coworker’s pants. Well, it’ll probably test well, but I’m not biting or sniffing Doritos dust.
Chevy Cruz Eco–– Ever notice how old people have lousy hearing? I SAID, EVER NOTICE HOW OLD PEOPLE HAVE LOUSY HEARING?! Well, here’s a bunch of seniors watching a Chevy Cruz commercial at ‘the home’ and they’re repeating the copy points they thought they heard. Gratuitous, yes, but I do get that the Cruz gets over 40 mpg, so these gray panthers were not mocked in vain. Well, not too much.
Pepsi Max— A man is trying to sneak fattening foods while his woman tries to keep him on the low cal trail. He gets abused, face mashed in pie, soap placed in mouth, etc. Stupid silly man! Now man is on a park bench and thinks he’s cheating on his diet with a Pepsi Max… but wait, his woman walks up, sits at a bench next to his and is drinking the same beverage! What’s this, great taste that’s got 0 calories?! Why this old fat dog’s learned a new trick. But wait, this old horn-dog also sees a sexy jogger, gives her the once over. This makes his woman so angry that she throws her can of Pepsi Max at his head, but he ducks, and the pretty woman jogger gets beaned. The Pepsi Max-lovin’ couple slink away. Why, it’s like a Three Stooges skit, without the humor.
Bud Light–– Simple premise, a director protests when he sees a product in the scene of a movie he’s shooting. He learns that with product placement, you get lots of products as a reward. Well, now, let’s have wacky hijinks with Bud Lights in every scene of the movie! And go. Yawn.
Chevy Silverado–– A brilliant spot. A father learns that his son Tommy is trapped in a all sorts of nasty places: the bottom of a well, the belly of a whale, a cave, a volcano, etc. Good thing pops has the rugged Chevy Silverado to take him on his adventures to rescue the clumsy little kid. It’s fun, it’s relevant, it’s the good stuff for Super Bowl Sunday sponsors.
Fast Five— Like fast cars, tough guys, sexy girls? Have we got a flick for you opening this April 29 at a theatre near you…
Pepsi Max— A nerd is taunted by preppies who enjoy Pepsi Max. Hey, a cool guy seated by the nerd has a cooler that launches Pepsi Max! The nerd uses the catapulting cooler to deliver a can of Pepsi Max to the groin of a taunting prepster, followed by a can to his head. It’s the first use of groin humor! The second konk to head gag (also by Pepsi Max). The creators on this campaign stink of desperation for grabbing some attention. Sorry, not amusing.
Doritos– A friend is leaving for the weekend and asks his housitting pal to watch the place and feed his goldfish. Time passes (as it will) and the fish is dead. Guy puts a little Doritos dust in the fishbowl and the fish comes back to life. What the….????!!!! On we go as more dead things are brought back to life– including some ashes in an urn that fall from the mantle and the dead rise again. Doritos as Jesus-raising-Lazarus dust? That’s some tasty snacks with incredible power.
Hyundai Elantra– Cool sound design and music, not terribly clever but the point is made without trashing old people. No, we have not been hypnotized to think compact cars are good enough. Here’s the 40 mpg Elantra.
Cowboys & Aliens— Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig. Indy and Bond as cowboys aiming to fight them some aliens. Deal me in. Cool spot, a movie concept that anyone could have come up with– but didn’t and wish he/she had.
Kia Optima— What can you do with special effects? Damn near anything. Poseidon, aliens, Aztecs– they all want this “epic ride.” Goes a long way and spends a ton of money to make the point. The car does look cool. A bit overboard, but point made and made well.
Bridgestone— A simple, terrific premise. Two buddies in office cube farm. One says to other, “You sent this e-mail ‘reply all.” Suddenly, the buddy is up and trashing computers all over town. He drives fast and we see some tires squealing as they hug the road. He ends up back at office and his buddy says that he was wrong. the guy only sent the e-mail to him. “Could you imagine if you had hit reply all?” Cut to Bridgestone logo and bit of copy. Nice spot, well produced.
Chevy Volt We see great moments when history is made for the ‘firsts’ in history. Ben Franklin and his electric kite, TV, Hendrix at Woodstock, Jobs and buddy in garage, NASA launching rockets… all leading up to electricity in the new Chevy Volt. History is made (wasn’t there an EV1 way back when?). Good spot. Good point.
Go Daddy Danica Patrick is introducing the hot new GoDaddy.co girl, a busty sexpot with skimpy jean shorts. Who is this ravishing creature? What– it’s Joan Rivers! Special effects, you are evil for conjuring such imagery. GoDaddy, go to the corner for a time out.
AT&T— A hip song accompanies vines and flowers that are creeping across America and blossoming orange flowers. The point is that AT&T covers 97% of America. Dramatic and nice effects. If only science could get kudzu to grow some orange flowers and AT&T worked well with iPhones…
Budweiser— The Clydesdales are in the old west delivering cold Bud to a bad hombre who sips and starts singing Elton John’s Tiny Dancer as the locals all join in. A long way to go for that gag, and who’d have ever seen it coming? Borrowed interest double-dipping, and not much Clydesdales. No, it’s not one of the great Bud moments, but that Elton John wrote him some tasty tunes.
Teleflora— No effects, one celeb. Faith Hill gives a music engineer the encouragement to write a note of “what’s in your heart” to his girl as he is about to send her some Teleflora flowers. He writes how he likes her rack. Oh, men, you are so stupid! A simple gag, dumb, but simple. It will be talked about for use of the word “rack.” Yes, it’s come to this, people.
Transformers— Love him, hate him, but Michael Bay makes some cool looking movie clips.
BMW— A bunch of folks from Spartanburg, South Carolina talk about how the BMW is made there. We see shots of robots making the cars (I guess these southerners fix the bots and drive the cars off the line). The point is that the cars are made and built in America. Hmm, interesting strategy, but not sure if it’s smart. I suspect true BMW people like its German heritage, not the southern stars and stripes waving sugar. If you’re going to shop patriotic, I suspect you buy from American car company cars (even if they are made from all over the world).
Motorola Xoom— This spot has a quirky kind of creep factor to it. A guy is among all sorts of people, all wearing white. He’s reading George Orwell’s “1984” on his Motorola Xoom and has a bouquet of flowers. The Xoom device looks cool, but hardly as cool as an iPad. The guy creates a little stick drawing movie of a guy giving a girl some flowers. He then gives a girl in white his flowers and we cut to the product and frankly the spot is pretty stupid, but, well, what can you do when you have to compete with an iPad? Oh, maybe show the product do something really unique and cool…
BMW Diesel— Bowie’s song “Changes” plays as we see dirty smoke from all sorts of diesel vehicles billowing out into the air, but here comes a clean-burning BMW diesel and it’s ripping up the road and looking great. Nice, simple, clean, Bowie.
Coca-Cola— Game-like animation in which a dragon is terrorizing advancing troops as they approach a city wall. An iced dragon is wheeled into the walled community (a la Trojan Horse). The dragon breathes fire, ice melts, bottle of Coke is revealed, dragon drinks, likes, then breathes out colorful confetti. The advancing troops celebrate. All is good. Coke made the world better. What could be easier?
Thor— A commercial for a movie that only announces the fact you probably want to avoid this movie.
VW Passat— Early money has this as a pick hit. Incredibly simple idea. Kid dressed as Darth Vadar tries to work his magic on inanimate objects, to no avail. Dad drives home in Passat. Lil’ Darth goes out and tries his spell on it. The car starts and even blinks its lights! Cut to dad in kitchen doing this black magic with his remote control. Cool and charming, memorable. Spike the ball, creatives, you’re clubhouse leaders…
Snickers— How do you follow-up on the incredibly successful Betty White spot? How about Richard Lewis whining as Tony, a lumberman. Then Rosanne Barr whining and getting hit with a log. Rosanne getting crushed– trumps a Pepsi Max to the nuts. “You’re not you when you’re hungry” is a brilliant strategy. Not as good as the original Betty White, but a nice effort.
CareerBuilder.com— Our first furry primate entry. The monkeys are back! But this time it’s convoluted. The monkeys are driving and blocking a human in his car then wrecking his car on other side. Lame line about caught between bad job and not getting anyplace… sorry, no banana. More about monkeys as bad drivers than monkeys as coworkers.
Super 8— Spielberg, J.J. Abrams. You had America at Spielberg, you locked them with Abrams. Looks cool.
Chevy Cruz –Spot opens as guy kisses his date goodnight, gets in his Chevy Cruz. Asks for his Facebook news feed. The car voice tells him “Jennifer Frech– best first date ever” and AVO tells us now you can do Facebook updates in the car. The guy smiles. I don’t know if it’s the technology or the spot, but it felt kind of creepy and techno-stalky.
Captain America— Looks interesting, but I hope those weren’t the sexiest bits of this film. Needed more.
CarMax— The prize for Pythonesque humor. A guy is at CarMax and says he feels like a kid in a candy store. Cut to kid in candy store who says he feels like a geek at a science fair. Cut to… on and on getting further and further out there and more ridiculous until we end up back at CarMax. While I admire the gonzo nature of the humor, it didn’t tell me a thing I didn’t already know about CarMax. They’ve got a lot of cars, got that. You spent $3 million to state the obvious thing that people get from driving past your lots?
Toyota Tundra— A truck drives through a nasty animated world. Who cares? Give me a Silverado and let’s find out where that darn Tommy kid is now!
Nascar— Sewer lids are popping off streets like crazy. A guy runs and stands on one and is lifted into the air. Cut to fast cars going in ovals. Stupid, meet crappy production values and long distance borrowed interest. Yellow flag.
Chatter.com— A weirdly animated world where a hip guy tells us all sorts of copy points and I don’t know what any of it means. Will there be a test? Hope not.
Here’s another Chatter.com spot. This one shows how the world is made a better place somehow or other by whatever it is this service does. Really?
cars.com— “Sometimes it best to let others go first” says our friendly announcer (he is one sell guy, that guy). We see the king’s taster drop dead. A guy in a scientific experiment morphs into a mutant. A cowboy becomes a pin cushion for arrows to see if the coast is clear for his buddy. (It isn’t.) And the point of all this is— with cars.com, other people review the cars you might be interested in buying. Good point, good spot.
E-TRADE— Here’s that adorable talking baby and now he’s being measured for a suit by Enzo and he gets to do a bad stereotypical Italian accent (laughing yet?). Not a great moment in talking baby spot history and perhaps the weakest link yet in this long-running campaign. Hope I didn’t make the baby cry.
Best Buy— Ozzie and the Bieber in one turd of a spot. Star power, meet your super nova explosion. What a waste of money.
Pirates of The Caribbean on Stranger Tides— Yes, it looks like more of the same, but can we ever get enough of Depp doing Keef Richards? Not until it stops being box office gold.
Mini— The game show has the title Cram it in the Boot and is all about stuffing stuff in the back end of a Mini. Double entrendre meets benefit copy point. Oh, so naughty but so effective.
HomeAway.com— A weird man flies about and we see a test baby get its face smashed on a glass wall and it’s all about why use hotels when you can rent a home instead. I get it, but did the test baby have to get its faced mashed? Probably. It’s all I’ll remember tomorrow (but not the product’s name).
Hyundai Elantra— We’ve got the Dude’s voice with Lebowski trippy effects and he’s yakking about the Elantra not being boring and getting 40 mpg– all well and good, but are the Coen Brothers getting a taste of the vig for their work on this spot?
Groupon— Timothy Hutton’s voice talks about Tibet and its people and I want to help the cause of Tibet against evil China, but wait, we Tim and he’s enjoying some Tibetan food in Chicago at half off and I have a bad feeling and taste in my mouth about any company that exploits people to make its point.
Coca-Cola— Two guards are walking respective borders. They are cold and austere in demeanor. But, one has a Coke. The other looks on with hungry eyes that thirst for it. Behold, there is one Coke left in the cooler (let’s hope it’s not a Pepsi Max launching cooler– we could have war). The guard places the Coke on the ground so that the other guard can get it. They drink and we achieve detente through refreshment. Then, they go back to work marching. Simple, yes. Magical? Hardly. But, engaging.
Stella Artois— A man croons in a dark bar. Pretty girls cry. They drink Stellas. The man gets his Stella. Huh? For this you spent big money?
CarMax— A guy pulls into an old timey full service gas station and a small army of attendants care for his vehicle. The guy is spooked by this and runs off paranoid, and the point is that CarMax doesn’t believe customer service should be a thing of the past. I get this point better than their earlier spot, but still I wonder what CarMax customer service is…
Chrysler— A beautiful and tough tone poem to Detroit married with great cinematography makes the point that we (Detroit) know luxury and making cars and kicking ass and now look who’s driving that great looking car– Eminem, and he points a finger at us and says ‘this is what we do in the motor city’ and damn if I don’t believe him and feel much more American pride than what those Spartanburg BMWers were pushing my way. Good stuff and a good looking car. Nice.
Rango— This time, Johnnie Depp’s animated. Looks fun, I guess. Glad our kids are too old for this stuff.
Cars.com— Various vehicles discuss their reviews on cars.com. Who knew steel could be so clever. I get it, but not sure I like it.
Bud Light— Another buddy housesitting for buddy tale, this time there are lots of dogs and a cooler filled with Bud Lights! Oh, boy, where is this going to go! PAR-TAY!!! We’ve got dogs serving beers, dogs drawing taps, etc. We’ve got fun and attractive women and well, pretty much every cliched beer spot trick in the book. How I yearn for a spot from The Most Interesting Man in The World…
Hyundai— A brilliant spot. What if we settled for the first things that came along? People with penny-farthing bikes, big honking early cell phones, playing Pong, a Zeppelin in sky, etc. Well, Hyundai didn’t settle and here’s a sexy new Sonata to prove it. Fun to watch, simple point to make. A strategy that could have worked for a number of items, but Hyundai got there tonight.
Pepsi Max— Battle of sexes at dinner table as voices in heads play. Girl wonders if guy is the one and other deep emotional issues. Guy wonders if she’ll have sex. Over and over and over he wonders this. Here comes Pepsi Max and something happens I can’t recall what but the spot sucked and at least no one got a shot to the head or crotch with a can. We have that to be thankful for, I guess.
Rio –Another animated film. Looks colorful. If you have kids, you’ll be there.
Bridgestone— Simple and strong critter spot. Man driving on rainy night avoids a beaver in the road and goes across bridge. The beaver gives him a thankful wave. Six months later, same man driving on rainy night slams on brakes to avoid a tree that’s fallen in his path. We see the bridge has washed out by rising river. The beaver has cut down tree. Many gives beaver a chest salute. Never thought I’d write that sentence. Terrific spot.
GoDaddy.com— Another in the seemingly never ending sexploitive series. Go on line to learn more. Who cares?
VW Beetle— Here’s an animated jungle scene as insects of all stripes are at work and here comes a souped-up beetle running through the jungle and it matches the shape to announce that the 21st century Beetle is coming. Attention-grabbing, but pretty light on conceptual gas power.
Merecedes Benz— Janis sings “Lord won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz” as Benzs across the country go to the motherland to see the four new models and welcome them to the family. Good use of Joplin, cool effects, point made. Interesting, but that’s about all.
Chevy Camaro— A spot that may be too hip for the room, but I doubt it. We hear the voiceovers of the creative team of this very spot as they concept the spot and we see their words change the visual instantly. It’s got every tired car commercial cliche but is told in a fresh, compelling and fun way, right down to the set-up of the announcer and hearing a real announcer voice. I like this cheese. Smart, different, very well done.
Verizon— Romancing an iPhone as a voiceover extols its incredible virtues and powers then asks, “What’s it matter if the network doesn’t work?” iPhone rings, the Verizon “Can you hear me now?” guy answers and says he can hear you now. Pretty damn brilliant, and especially effective to all us schmucks trying to operate an iPhone on the AT&T network.
E-TRADE— Talking baby has a cat that sneezes. Goes long way for a bad gag as baby tells cat, “I told you to get a flu shot.” May we have a muzzle for talking baby, please? I think the shark has officially been jumped.
Mars Needs Moms— Creepy animation from Disney. Looks bad. But hey, it’s also in 3-D so it can be bad in three dimensions at once!
NFL— From those wonderful folks who bring you professional football, a spot featuring anybody who’s anybody in pop culture of the past 30 years or so wearing NFL garb as they prepare to watch a game (all while the theme song of the TV show Dallas plays). A big, simple, very expensive idea that’s very well done. I imagine it took an army of attorneys to handle licensing fees on this sucker. It’s the ultimate in celebrity endorsements, brought to you by special effects and deep pockets. Great end line: Best fans ever. Proof that if you’re going to borrow interest, borrow big!
Wendy’s— Two guys eating lunch. One has a Wendy’s spicy chicken sandwich. His buddy asks him what the sammy tastes like. Wendy’s guy slaps him in the face. “Wow, you’ve got yourself a sandwich, sir.” Well, well, a slap in the face gag. How refreshing. Ycchhh. Kindly serve the creators a Pepsi Max to the crotch.
AT&T— Simple, good gag. Two pals on a ski lift. One asks other if he can ask out his old girlfriend. Sure, says pal, but I don’t think she’d go out with… suddenly, the guy gets three quick texts message and a video from his pal’s ex saying that she’d love to go out. The friend asks to see the video, gets phone and heaves angrily. “Sparks fly faster on AT&T network with 4G.” Nice. AT&T is doing beer gags better than beer companies do beer gags.
Oscillococcinum— If the name doesn’t get you sick, the crappy animation in this spot will.
O.K., my head is filled with goo. Rumor has it Green Bay won. Goodnight.
Back in November of 2007, I had the pleasure of interviewing Alex Bogusky at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta. I was El Presidente of the Atlanta Ad Club, and Alex was booked to talk with us. Rather than have a lecture, I wanted to interview him like James Lipton interviews megastars on “Inside The Actors Studio.” Alex liked the idea and was terrific. We packed the house with over 350 people, by far the largest AAC event in recent history, and Alex generously shared his wisdom and insights. It was an inspiring evening and afterward Alex bolted to catch a private plane and fly to Seattle. The agency was pitching Microsoft the next day. They did and they won. Just another day for CP+B.
The communications world was jolted recently when Alex Bogusky, creative Wunderkind of Crispin Porter + Bogusky, announced he was leaving the ad world to pursue other interests.
He wants to do more do-gooder types of things– helping people and what have you. He had received his money from selling to MDC and decided he’d had enough of the adworld. His ex- agency still handles Burger King and Domino’s Pizza and Alex was becoming more vocal about touchy subjects like advertising to children and selling foods that are hardly healthy. He took his ball and left the playground. Good for him; it’s admirable to want to help others, and everyone is curious to see what he does next.
In an industry where there are few interesting people, few visionaries/iconoclasts/leaders, Alex Bogusky stood out. He was controversial at times, but always sincere and passionate. The work, love it or hate it, changed many of the rules of how people communicated with people.
Best wishes, Alex, you were a great guest and voice for our industry.
There’s an entrepreneurial voice inside you who wants to be free. Who wants to bust the shackles of ‘the man’ and fly where you want, when you want, how you want. You want to fly and be free. Good for you, just don’t crash and burn.So you want to be your own boss– you want to freelance or be a consultant. Good for you. I believe that freelancing is great for everyone, but not everyone is great for freelancing.
Before starting an ad agency, I had two successful stints as a freelancer. Here’s what I learned that you may want to know.
1. Strip down your expenses. Now that you’re in business for yourself, you’ll have to concern yourself with the absence of regular paychecks. The 15th and last day of the month will just be two more days on the calendar. Your income will be sporadic, at best. You’ll go through dry spells and busy spells. While you can’t control your income, you can control your expenses, so slim them down (good advice for people will full time jobs, too). Do you really need to hit Starbucks twice a day? Watch your meal expenses, happy hour bills, entertainment costs. Look at everything you’re spending money on and decide what is absolutely essential and what can be cut back. Get health insurance but don’t overpay for it. Get the highest deductible available. You need catastrophe insurance that will cover major medical expenses if your health goes seriously south. In short, you don’t have to live like a pauper, but you’ll be better off if you keep your splurges to a minimum, until you get established at least.
2. Consult with a good accountant. Find out the essentials of keeping books, expenses, what’s deductible and what isn’t. A good accountant will tell you the red flags the I.R.S. looks for. It is not as difficult as it sounds, but it’s good to know the rules of the game before you start playing it. Or, take this simple attitude, “Everything is deductible, until you’re audited.” Do you feel lucky? Do you look good in orange? Do you want to be the husband or the wife?
3. Find your happy place. You need an office, a workspace, some place to call your own. This is your professional space, where you’ll get things done and run your business doing trivial things like work, writing letters, e-blasts, billing, etc. It can be a spare bedroom, or if you’re tight on space, your kitchen table or countertop. It can also be a neutral space: the library, a coffee shop, a fast food joint (although these ‘squatter spots’ are not ideal since management will give you the hairy eyeball if you’re hanging there for hours on end– they’re trying to run a business, too, you know). You need a place where you are your company and you can get down to business. All business. This work space is sacred, essential and critical to your success.
4. Look legit. Print your own business cards and stationary. Don’t cheap out on the card and paper stock. 5,000 business cards for $29 looks like 5,000 business cards for $29. Have a tasty design and typography on your card that speaks before it’s read. Here’s what it should say: “this person is good, really good. He/she may be pricey, but he/she is worth every penny.”
5. Name your price. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve done, eventually people will want to know what your talent costs. So figure out your hourly rate, day rate, weekly or monthly rate. How? Find out the market rate for people with similar backgrounds and experience to yours. Adjust accordingly. If you feel your work is more brilliant than others, set your rates higher. The free market system will tell you if you’re worth it. If someone wants you at a discount, you’ll have to decide if you’re willing to work at that price or not. Job #1 is to get demand for your service, so concentrate on that. Money will work itself out, eventually. You can always say no and many times refusing work makes you even more desirable. Of course, you may wish to charge by the project so you don’t have to discuss mundane matters like hourly or daily rates. Go ahead, do project fees but be careful. Be exact in defining the scope of work. State the number of revisions your price includes. Be as specific as possible with what the project fee covers, and what it doesn’t. People love to revise work endlessly, and they will do so– until it’s costing them money. Get a signed P.O. and go. Doing projects is the deep water and I don’t recommend it for freelancers just starting out. If you’re not careful, it can be an expensive way to learn the game. P.O.s are always a good idea, but if you’re working for a company directly, they are essential. I once got stiffed by a multi-billion dollar corporation because I didn’t have a signed P.O. and the guy who gave me the verbal assignment got whacked just after giving me the go-ahead. I did the work and they refused to pay me because there was no paper trail. Wah-wah-wahhhhhh! Lesson learned. Bureaucracies run on paperwork. Get it signed and get paid.
Will you work in make-up, or not?6. Make sure your work looks great. Your past work is your biggest calling card for yourself. For creative people, it’s all you’ve got. Not many people will hire you just to be fun to have around– it works for party clowns but not marketing folks. If it helps to present your work as case histories, give the proper backstory and context. Stress results. People like to know you care about making things happen. Build a website for you and your business. Don’t get too fancy with flash and gimmicks. People want to see your work, know a bit about you and be done with it. Show you’re diverse in your approaches. Prove you know your craft in a variety of styles and media. If your work shows you to be a one-trick pony, not many people will pay for rides. If you like, show more sides to yourself in a blog (see below). Have a link to your blog on your site. Oh, and don’t forget to have your website address listed on your beautiful business cards printed on quality stock.
7. Plug in and activate your network. All those people you know, the ones you’ve worked with, worked for, met at professional organizations, seen at seminars, friends, relatives– basically anyone with a pulse– they can all be the lead to your next job. Let everyone know what you’re up to and what you’re looking for. Give them a business card or two. Let them know you’d appreciate any referrals to keep you in mind. It’s that old ask and you will receive thing. It may not be today or tomorrow, but plant the seeds for future success and work. And plant like crazy.
8. Get to know the freelance network. Yes, they are your competitors but they are also could be a source of business. Writers need art directors and vice versa. Sometimes competitors get swamped and have to turn down work– work they could dish your way (don’t forget to return the favor). Know who’s out there and stay connected. These people can do you good, and when they do, pay them back with lunch, dinner, drinks or a villa in the south of France.
9. Get social. Use all the social networking tools you can to stay in touch. You don’t have to constantly hump legs, but you do need to have a presence so that people know about you and what you do, in case they need you to do what you do..
10. Blog. This isn’t for everyone, but it might be for you, if you have something interesting to say. Blogs are great for those who want to speak as an authority, a sage, a philosopher king or someone passionate on any subject. It can be business related but it doesn’t have to be. If you don’t have anything to say, that’s fine. Blogging is not for everyone. Write a blog about not blogging. Hmm, I’d better copyright that idea before Cosmo Kramer does…
11. Act like a shark. Some sharks stay in constant motion to survive. Consider this a good guide for your freelance success. You should always be networking, showing your work, pimping your work, attending events and professional functions, etc. Even if you’re busy, keep planting seeds for future harvesting. What if you’re an introvert and like to work quietly in the shadows like some genius Boo Radley? Well, you’d better be damn great, or get yourself an agent. Freelancing is tough for introverts. Someone’s got to pimp you and if not you, who?
12. When you’re hired, be professional and over-deliver the goods. A freelancer is a mercenary. You’re a professional hired for a specific, specialized task. Be prompt, or early on the job. Don’t jack around waiting for divine inspiration. Be a professional problem solver. Dive into data, ask smart questions, identify the problem and surround it. The beauty of freelancing is you don’t have to get involved in agency politics, client politics or typical business B.S. Your task is solving the problem at hand. Show agility and flexibility in thought and over-deliver the goods. Doing a great job the first time you’re hired is your best insurance of getting a job the next time. Freelancers are typically called upon until they don’t deliver… then companies go to another freelance source. Strive to always be the first freelancer call they make.
13. Get plugged-in on your jobs. When you get work, be personable and get to know the people you’re working for. Get to know the support staff, the people involved on the account. The more people who know and like you, the better your odds for getting more work down the road. Don’t get me wrong, being a swell joe isn’t what they’re hiring you for, but being a moody introvert, angry misunderstood genius or a stand-offish prick will hurt your chances of repeat business. Misery may love company, but who wants to hang with misery?
14. Check your ego. This is the toughest part of freelancing for most people. You are hired, you are paid and you do what you believe to be outstanding work. Then they take your precious babies and revise them, mangle them and ruin them (in your humble opinion). Get over it. You did the work, cashed the check and the deal is done. The great thing about freelancing is the lack of politics, the terrible thing about freelancing is the lack of control. When you are employed full time, you establish relationships inside the agency and with the client. All too often, when you’re freelancing you are kept in the shadows creating ideas that are taken forward. You have no control, no face, no voice. Unless the idea is so brilliant and the taste of agency people and client match yours, chances are your child will become something you may not recognize when it gets produced. Yes, it hurts, but until you have your own clients and your own relationships, you’re just a hired hand at the ranch. And hired hands had better get used to getting kicked.
15. Your book’s in mothballs. Because you have little control, freelancing can be tough on your book and reel. It’s tough to get work produced you love. All too often, you have little more than cancelled checks to show for your brilliant efforts (cancelled checks can look great when laminated). For this reason, I caution people early in their career from freelancing. Build your book, create something worth money to someone else, then you can afford the luxury of not having to scramble to add to it. But it’s damn hard to build a book as a freelancer, although I do know one guy who did it– Chuck Porter. Chuck’s had a very successful career as nothing but a freelancer, until he had his name added to Crispin Porter (and eventually + Bogusky). But then again, Chuck Porter is Chuck Porter, and he’s making us all look bad. Grab a torch and pitchfork, townspeople– let’s get him!
16. The Trojan Horse Strategy. Perhaps you don’t really want to freelance but you like the idea of having money for things like food, shelter, movies, video games, transportation and designer beer. No worries, freelancing is an excellent entree to test driving an agency, and vice versa. When you’re looking for a full time job, it can be tough getting into an agency to show your work. The economy sucks. It’s easier to get in as a freelancer showing your work, available for hire selling genius by the hour. So, open the door by showing your work as a freelancer, but state you might be interested in full time, should the right opportunity come up. Most agencies like this. It gives us the chance to test drive you and you to test drive us.
17. Shut your cakehole. Freelancers are like honeybees flying from flower to flower. Don’t pollinate confidential information, upcoming campaigns and gossip along the way. If people know you’re a busybody, you won’t stay very busy.
18. Paper out, paper in. The moment you finish a job and everyone’s happy, write a thank you letter to the person who hired you and include your invoice. DON’T WAIT. Do it now, now, now. Billing is not the same as receiving. Many companies like to take a loooooooong time to pay, aging invoices like fine wine. So you want to bill quickly because until the paperwork is in the system, absolutely nothing will happen. The quicker you get the paper out, the sooner checks will show up in your mailbox, and that, my friend, is the best feeling in the world.Enjoy yourself. Why not, you’re flying solo, babe.
19. Enjoy yourself or do something else. Freelancing will teach you a lot about business– the business of running a business.
You’ll discover a lot about yourself, agencies, clients, life. You’ll have a much better appreciation of our craft and what it takes to get things done and be successful.
You’ll also learn that just because your phone isn’t ringing doesn’t necessarily mean it’s broken. And that’s the hardest lesson to learn– patience. Can’t wait until I learn some patience my own self.
Happy hunting and feel free to toss in your advice.
The ante started at $2.4 million and went up to a cool $3 million to air a spot in this year’s “big game”, which is code for Super Bowl, a trademarked name. I can use the term since I’m paying $126,500 in licensing fees and have a team of Lint lawyers at the ready.
Giving Super Bowl spots a look-see with virgin eyes. Yipes!I’ve shielded myself from the annual hype about Super Bowl commercials to keep virgin eyes and a clean slate for my opinions. The criteria of my grading is this: is the spot entertaining, relevant to the product or service, informative, interesting, memorable and the holy grail of all– persuasive? A tall order, I know, but for a $2.4-3 mil investment plus production costs, ad agency fees, etc., it seems like appropriate ground rules.
Am I being too rough to expect more than just entertainment? No, this is supposed to be marketing, right? If you’d like to re-watch any of the spots, the good people of Ad Age have most of them posted here.
I apologize in advance for any errors. These are gut reactions after one viewing, so there.
Hyundai Sonata— Nothing breakthrough here: pretty car shots, The Dude’s voiceover extolling the Sonata’s virtues and car reviews, lots of features, great gas mileage and an attractive price. Simple, well-produced, product-focused and great eye candy. I like, but then again, we’re now a two Hyundai family (attribute it to the smart advertising, a great website, terrific products and rave reviews had something to do with it).
Bud Light— The first shot from the deep A-B coffers is a blank. Some people enter a house made of Bud Light cans. The people think the cans are empty, but wah wah wahhh— they’re not, they’re full! Now the fun begins. Blah blah. There’s an end gag with a shower curtain being pulled back as a naked woman screams. Huh? It’s going to be a long night…
Snickers— Young dudes are playing football with Betty White (yes, Betty White). They tell “Mike” he’s playing like “Betty White”… she eats a Snickers, and is suddenly transformed from Betty into a young man. AVO tells us “When you’re hungry, you’re not yourself.” End gag with guy tackling Abe Vigoda (yes, Fish Vigoda). It’s a smart strategy, and breakthrough creative execution. Not in the same league as previous Snickers work, but that was some of the best.
Focus on The Family— The controversy was bigger than this commercial. Mom Pam Tebow talks about her baby and how she almost lost him. Suddenly, son Tim Tebow tackles her. Yes, the brat tackles his mother. This is the thanks she gets?! Look, religion and politics consume all other aspects of the airwaves, the Super Bowl should offer some relief. Hey, this is about talking babies and cute animals and stuff! Now, can we get on with our lives?
Hyundai Sonata— Beautiful cinematography of a factory making a Hyundai Sonata. The Dude tells us about famous classical sonatas and compares this to the new Sonata. A long way to go, then we learn the Sonata has a better paint job than a Mercedes. Hmmm. Pretty spot, point made, but it feels cheap.
BoostMobile— A hateful spot playing off the old Chicago Bears shuffle. Mike Ditka, etc. Why and for what, God only knows. Have no idea what this product does, nor do I care. Let us never speak of this again. Please.
Doritos— The master wants his dog to speak for Doritos, the dog doesn’t, instead he sneaks behind man and puts collar on him! Oh boy!!! Then, get this, the dog takes the bag of Doritos and shocks the man! Ain’t we got fun? Oh, I feel shame for all ad people.
Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood (with Russell Crowe). Looks like what you’d expect. Get your tights out of the mothballs. (Insert your mothball-tights joke here.)
Doritos— A guy goes to his girl’s house. She goes to get ready. Her son is there with a bowl of Doritos. The man reaches for one, takes it and little boy slaps him on face. Tells man to keep his hands off his mom and his Doritos. There you have it. Check, please. This is not a great moment in advertising history.
Bud Light— Get a load of this: a meteor is coming to destroy Earth so all the scientists and astronomers begin celebrating impending death with Bud Light. The end gag– meteor is just a pebble that bounces off telescope. Cue the trombones, wah wah wahhhhhh wahh! Sigh, where’s the Most Interesting Man in The World when you need him?
Coca-Cola— The big gun goes celebrity with all of The Simpsons Springfield as C. Montgomery Burns is broke, we see his life being turned to crap. Some decent sight gags but nothing as witty as classic Simpsons. At the end, Burnsie gets a Coke. A lot of celebrity power here, but not nearly as powerful or charming as the parade character balloons spot from a couple years back.
GoDaddy.com— The ‘GoDaddy girl (Danica Patrick) is getting a massage. Her masseuse recognizes her, wants to be like her and asks if she can be a ‘GoDaddy Girl’… then masseuse rips her shirt off of herself to reveal a T with web address. We’re directed to go check out more. Welcome to soft porn. Heavy sigh.
Doritos— We’re in a church at a funeral but the guys in the pews are snickering because they’re buddy’s in casket-full of Doritos watching the game. Cut to man in coffin with lots of Doritos and a small TV. Oh, why bother describing what happens after this… it’s a hateful spot. Death and Doritos, we’ve come to this. Sob.
Bud Light— Dude has party voice and Bud Light. All pals have party voices and Bud Lights. No reason to go into it any further. Another bad Bud Light spot.
Monster— A beaver plays a fiddle. Yada yada yada. A voiceover says something. Yawn. Was there a woodchuck gag in there? Who cares? Anyone remember when Monster did cool ads? I do. Sad. Maybe they need some fresh talent. Hey, look on Monster!
The Wolfman— Looks good. Dark, moody, spooky. Deal me in.
Bridgestone— a killer whale is in a car with some guys. They’re splashing it with water. They take the whale to the sea and it dives in. The driver says, “Now that was a bachelor’s party”… looks like someone in the creative department saw The Hangover last year.
Sketchers. Boring.
cars.com— Timothy has an amazing life delivering tiger cubs, saving high school students from a twister, oh, but he doesn’t know doodly-squat about cars. Fortunately there’s cars.com. to make car buying easy. A long way to go but a message is sent. Is there reception? We’ll see.
Budweiser— Man enters diner and announces the bridge is out. No one cares until he says there’s a Bud delivery truck on the other side. Suddenly, the townsfolk run to help. They form a bridge, truck drives over. Party in diner. End gag, drivers say they need the bridge to get back across. Please, people, if you must drink, don’t form bridges.
Shutter Island— Scorcese, Leo, insane asylum, mystery. You had me at Scorcese.
The Late Show With David Letterman— Letterman eats a chip and complains about the boring Super Bowl part. Camera widens out, we see Oprah who tells Dave it’s not that bad. Camera widens out more and we see Leno on the other side of Oprah. If Oprah can bring those two together, let’s get her on a plane to the Middle East. Nice spot.
CareerBuilder.com— It’s a guy talking about his problem with the office and casual Fridays. We see his coworkers in underwear (they are pudgy, not model types). Where are we going with this? To Punville! The AVO tells us to “expose yourself” to new job opportunities with careerbuilder.com. I feel like I should earn frequent flier miles for following this.
Dockers— A bunch of men wear no pants and march across a field chanting “We wear no pants…” (Did they know the previous spot had no pants for a gag?) All of this is to get you to go to a website for some free pants. Hmm, FREE– that should sell some pants…
Hyundai Sonata— This spot makes a point of the product’s long warranty by showing Brett Favre in 2020 getting the MVP award. The Dude’s voiceover says, “We don’t know what the future will be like, but we know the Sonata will still be covered.” Clever, simple, powerful sales point. Put more points on the board for Hyundai.
Bud Light— Here’s a spoof of the TV show Lost. The surviving passengers are on the beach, a woman approaches and announces she has a way to be rescued off the island, but wait, some guy has found the beverage cart and it’s fully stocked with Bud Light (hmm, maybe they could build a house with all the cans). Party ensues and they use radio to get party music. Umm, that’s some powerful party beer, that Bud Light. The best BL spot of the night, but that’s damning with faint praise. Still, I’ll bet this scores big with the USA Today poll. It’s got the proper balance of pop culture heat.
Dove for Men— It’s all about some man’s life. We see him born, he ages, he marries, has kids, etc., etc., etc. Then somehow this wraps into him in the shower and copy about new Dove for Men and the clever slogan be comfortable in your own skin. Why? Don’t ask– because Dove says so, that’s why!
Dodge Charger— We see a series of close-ups of men as they say “I will” and run-off a litany of emasculating things they ‘will do’ for their women. All of this is to set up that because they do all this p-whipped stuff they ‘will drive what they want”– and that’s a Dodge Charger. Vrrroooom! There, there, of course you will, fellas. Just ask your lady for the keys. The car looks much stronger than the beaten-down men.
teleflora.com— A hot girl is berating a less attractive worker. Hot girl gets a box of flowers. She opens it and a talking flower starts berating her. A guy coworker asks, “Who sends flowers in a box? A guy in prison?” The AVO tells us use teleflora and get flowers in a vase. Stupid. Kindly put this spot in its grave and send it a box of flowers.
Papa John’s— Look, it was a Papa John’s spot. Do you really have to wonder if it was any good?
Alice in Wonderland— Disney gets hip, hires Tim Burton who hires Johnny Depp. This movie looks very cool and visually stunning. What would Walt think? I like.
Dr. Pepper— The rock band KISS pimps Cherry Dr. Pepper. Oh, I can’t even describe it any more. Slap everyone involved with this mess (you might want to wash your hands after you slap the members of KISS, greasepaint stains). By the way, what is with Dr. Pepper? Why can’t they ever do a decent spot?
TruTV— We’re in Punxsutawney for a groundhog day set up as the mayor pulls a miniature Troy Polamalu out of a hole and announces “Six more weeks of football.” Long way to go for a copy point, but point made, you can catch six more weeks of football. Put points on the board.
Universal Orlando— Harry Potter world comes to Orlando. Is there ever any reality in Orlando? Oh well, if our kids were still that age, we’d be there.
FLOTV— We see a guy shopping with his girl as a narrator tells us the man’s girlfriend has removed the boyfriend’s spine and so he can’t see the game. But lookee here now, with new FLOTV he could see it. The device looks like a little iPhone screen. Are all men in commercials whipped? The device does look interesting, I’ll give them that.
Intel— An engineer talks about new processors being “the greatest thing we’ve ever done” as we see a little robot approach with a tray of food. The little robot is sad as he hears the guy talk about how great this new processor is. I get a Wall-E vibe from the robot. The point is this new chip is hot stuff. Not bad, I guess.
IT’S HALFTIME– LET’S HOPE PETE TOWNSEND DOESN’T EXPOSE A ROGER DALTRY NIPPLE IN A WARDROBE MISHAP.
