World Stops as Area Blogger Unveils New Look, Greatest Hits List.

The world today is full of pain and bad news. In the streets of Aleppo, of Gaza, and Ferguson, Missouri, bad shit is happening. Which is why the world needs a really stupid blog like this one.

It’s stupid mostly because I wrote it. But it’s also stupid because the main focus is advertising, a profession (affliction) thought by most to be immoral at worst, irritating at best.

Seriously, what the hell is wrong with us ad geeks? Caring as much as we do about something as nerdy as advertising?

Well, I don’t get it either, but here we are ¬– stayin’ late at the office or stayin’ up all night at school, trying to come up with a new way to make people give a flying f••k about Mrs. Paul’s Fish Sticks. And so I figured, we need something to read in order not to get too depressed about Aleppo, Gaza, and Ferguson.

I hope you like the new design. (Done by a SCAD ad student; a paid gig, btw.) HeyWhipple’s been up and running since 2010 and over the years I’ve managed to post a few things that didn’t suck too bad. And so, by way of reintroduction, I include below a list of links to some of my favorite posts over the years.

I hope to start posting again with some regularity, now that school’s about to start. Feel free to follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or to subscribe. (Buttons below to the right.)

ESSAYS ON ADVERTISING:

Is Your Ad Complete Bullshit? Try This Simple Test.

“I See Dead Ad Jobs.” Thoughts on an ad business facing the digital tsunami.

How To Advertise to a Nation of Eye-Rollers.

Content Is King. (Excerpt from new edition of Hey Whipple, Squeeze This.)

Big Ideas vs. Long Ideas.

On Making Things Better Than They Have To Be Made.

ADVICE TO STUDENTS AND JUNIORS:

How I Learned Not To Suck. As Much.

Advice on Putting Together Your Book.

Do Not Tolerate Brutal Creative Directors.

How To Last in a Tough Business That’s Filled with Rejection.

An Open Letter to a Creative on the Ropes.

Please Give This Essay Your Full Attention. (The power of focus.)

The New Creative is T-Shaped.

Interns Should Be Paid. (With Money.)

On Picking Your Favorite Flavor of Suck.

Get Great at Writing Radio and You’ll Probably Always Have a Job.

Problem Solving vs. Problem Finding

Why Creativity is Exactly Like Washing A Pig.

Good Creative People are NEVER Bored.

On Presentation Skills.

What I Learned About Presenting From Doing Stand-Up.

ESSAYS I WISH CLIENTS WOULD READ:

On Being a Devil’s Advocate vs. an Angel’s Advocate.

An E-Mail I Came THIS Close to Sending to a Client About Her Micro-Managing.

Why You Shouldn’t Put Too Much Stuff in Your TV Spots.

The Home For Tired Old Ideas.

The Two States of Consumer Awareness: Shopping for Vegetables vs. Being a Vegetable.

What Having a Bad Client Feels Like, as told by a Plumber.

The Best Client I Ever Had: Wendy Ludlow Clark, now of Coca-Cola.

HEROES

R.I.P. Mike Hughes, The Most Loved Man in all of Advertising.

On Having Heroes.

My Favorite Writing Teacher: Poet Billy Collins

One of the Best Pieces of Creative Advice I Ever Received. From Anne Lamott.

The Day My Favorite Writer Ray Bradbury, Died.

REALLY STUPID STUFF

My Pitch to Chiquita Bananas.

Social Media vs. Those Whacky Waving Arm-Flailing Inflatable Tube Men.

Advertising after the Zombie Apocalypse.

Who Else Hates those Pop-Up Ads That Show Up in the Middle of Your Movie?

The Ad Industry’s Most Common Error: Media vs. Mediums.

A Stupid Film I Made to Make Fun of Pat Fallon’s new Big-Ass Office.

The Prestigious “Pardon Airport Construction Signs Creativity Gala.”

SELF-PROMO STUFF (Me, Wonderful Me.)

An After-Effects Self-Promo Piece Done by a SCAD Student.

The Most Interesting Night I Had in all of 2012.

My Single Fave Thing I Ever Did While Working for Norwegian Cruise Lines.

33 Years in the Ad Biz, and This Was My Favorite Campaign. And it’s Radio.

The Day My Picture Showed Up In The Onion.

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Luke Sullivan

Author, speaker, and ad veteran available to recharge, reinvigorate, and refocus marketing, advertising, and branding firms.

I give a hugely energetic series of presentations on innovation, creativity, branding, and marketing. I spent 32 years in the trenches of advertising (at agencies like Martin, GSD&M, and Fallon) and I’ve put everything I learned into my book, Hey Whipple, Squeeze This. But for me nothing beats taking the message out and speaking to living breathing audiences at clients, agencies, and conferences. You can book me on the button below.

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