Ammunition, triggers, and don't be boring...

AMMUNITION, TRIGGERS, AND DON’T BE BORING…

The advertising legend that was David Abbott (you might have heard of him…and if you haven’t, you know where the door is), was a man of immense talent and almost endless copywriting thoughts and words.

Some of these were disguised as hard and fast rules.?

Some of these passed themselves off as casual guidelines.?

Some of these were the result of a lifetime of doing and saying the right things in the most creative, intelligent, and unique way possible.?

The one that slaps me in the face like a wet kipper, time and time again, is only three words long. Or short.?

They’re not creative words.?

They’re not unique ones.?

They’re hardly even intelligent ones.?

But put them together and they add up to just about everything that’s wrong with a huge chunk of ad agencies today.?

And, chances are, they’ll still be everything that’s wrong with the same agencies tomorrow. And the day after that. And on ad infinitum.?

The words are these…

“Don’t be boring.”

They’re the kind of words that should be carved in stone above the entrance to every creative department.?

They’re the kind of words that often get lost or forgotten amongst all the other bigger, stronger, or more impressive-sounding words that get linked to what goes on in every creative department.

And yet…they’re the kind of words, wrapped up in the kind of phrase, that used to be an essential ingredient in every piece of creativity (words, sounds, or images) produced by everyone of any age in every ad agency the world over.

Here they are again…

“Don’t be boring.”

They sound so simple.?

They roll off the tongue so easily.?

So, what went wrong??

How did we lose our way?

Did the culture of mediocrity develop so slowly and insidiously that we simply didn’t see it coming until it was too late to turn the ocean-going tanker around?

Did we get tired of putting in the hours and the effort to change good into great…and then (occasionally) great into brilliant?

Did we lose sight of the light at the end of the tunnel? The one that shone so bright and showed us the way out of the darkness?

Did we get tired with (and sore from) banging our heads against walls filled with briefs written by folk with all the imagination of a trod-on chip?

Or did we simply forget why we got into the business in the first place?

To work every hour God sends us to be as creative as we could possibly be.?

To come up with the best ideas, the most persuasive copy, and the most memorable images…and get one helluva kick out of doing it all over again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next?

Abbott, with his Artline 200 Fine 0.4 Pentel pen (blue ink…never black) came up with a lifetime of memorable thoughts.?

Here’s another one for you.?

This one’s just four words long. Or short.?

The words are these…

“Dig first, then write.”

He spent a lot of time digging.?

A lot of time fact-finding.?

And didn’t start writing until he had too much to say.?

How the hell can you write fluent copy if you keep interrupting the flow to do research, he’d remark.

That’s why, years after he passed away, and years after I stopped writing copy, and started doing other things with words, he’s still one of my advertising heroes.

That’s why my two favourite tools are still a spade…and a pen.?

The first one digs up all the ammunition I’ll ever need.?

The second one marks the spot and pulls the trigger.

At least that was always the plan.

Except for one thing…

David John Abbott was one of the best damned shots I never knew.

And compared to him, I couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn.

From three feet.?

With my eyes wide open…

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The above is an extract from my as yet unpublished (and mostly unwritten) book Ad Interruptus.

Like its sisters Ad Lib, and Ad Infinitum (NOW AVAILABLE), it's about creativity, advertising, life, and lots of stuff in between.

You'll find Ad Infinitum, Ad Lib, and Ad Hoc on Amazon, along with my other books, Love & Coffee and Heaven Help Us. In print and ebook. Waiting for you.?

And the wonderful thing about all three Ad books is… it doesn’t matter where you finish any chapter or episode.

Because it will always be pretty damned close to where you started it…

Ad Infinitum:?https://amzn.to/3pof7Uq

Ad Lib: https://amzn.to/2kd4LKf.

Ad Hoc:?https://amzn.to/2Nx8GL8

Love & Coffee:?https://amzn.to/28IWaHq

Heaven Help Us:?https://amzn.to/2nkQ1Jk

So grab a coffee, grab a chair, and grab a sneaky peek.

Then grab a copy...now!