Copy supplied by client...

I've never agreed with the concept of buying a dog and barking yourself. Sadly, I've known my fair share of folk who do.

The four words: "copy supplied by client" have possibly been responsible for some of the most embarrassing copy the ad world has ever known and cried over. No doubt great clumps of hair have been ripped from once-hirsute scalps.

Maybe that's why there are so many bald (or at least shaven headed) creatives.

Ironically, the very same words have also possibly been responsible for copy that wasn't half bad. Sometimes bloody good.

Maybe that's why there are also so many hairy (and relieved) creatives.

The thing is...those four words generally go hand in hand with three other words.

"Anyone can write."

And it's true. Just ask Jeff Bezos. Just look at the phenomenal growth of self-publishing with folk like Amazon. Bless his little cotton socks. Delivered next day.

Just ask any company that knows its product or service inside out, back to front, and a damned sight better than any agency. And so they should. But do they know how to write about them?

Let me tell you a story.

Many years ago (for argument's sake let's say about 30) a fairly green but reasonably competent copywriter (for argument's sake let's say someone who looked uncannily like me) wrote some copy for a full-page press ad.

The copy chief liked the copy. The Creative Director like the copy. The Account Handler liked the copy. The client loved the copy.

However he loved his wife more...and when he showed it to her (she always wanted to be a writer) she pulled a face and persuaded him to let her have a go.

Of course he did.

The result, delivered back to the creative department by a sheepish Account Handler, was somewhere in between War and Peace and something the neighbour's dog extruded on the opposite side of the fence.

There was a post-it note attached to the text. It said: "Copy supplied by client". The implication was obvious.

The writer had a word with the copy chief...who had a word with the Creative Director...who had a word with the MD...who promptly tore the Account Handler a new one.

It wasn't a pretty sight.

Then he picked up the phone. He was very polite. But he was very persuasive.

Three weeks later the ad appeared in a national newspaper. Copy supplied by agency.

When the client saw how well the ad performed, he sent the writer a case of wine. By way of an apology.

Naturally it got sidetracked.

When, six months later, the client and the agency parted company (for argument's sake let's say amicably) the agency MD sent the client a note. It consisted of one sentence. Seven words.

"Never buy a dog and bark yourself."

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The above is an extract from the first in my "Ad" book series. It's called Ad Lib.

Like its brothers and sisters Ad Hoc, Ad Infinitum, and Ad Interruptus (as yet unfinished), it's about creativity, advertising, life in general, and lots of interesting stuff in between.

You'll find them, along with my other books, Love & Coffee and Heaven Help Us, on Amazon. 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 Lib: https://amzn.to/2kd4LKf.

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

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

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 for 2022...