And Now a Few Words From Me: Advertising's Leading Critic Lays Down the Law, Once and For All (The Advertising Age Series)

"If you crave insight into the wacky, zany, madcap--albeit very serious--business of advertising, this is a great place to begin."--Miami Herald A witty and frank look at the ad biz from one of its most respected voices Advertising has become an endless stream of clich?s, cheesy productions, miscast celebrities, and gratuitous sex--and take-no-prisoners Advertising Age columnist Bob Garfield has had enough. In the often hilarious, always dead-on And Now a Few Words from Me, Garfield looks at the best and the worst in today's advertising as he tells advertising pros that it's time to swallow their own egos, return clients' rights to the forefront, and--once and for all--eliminate bad advertising from the face of the earth. Annotation Advertising's most influential critic discusses what is wrong with today's ads--and how to make it right For almost two decades, Bob Garfield's "Ad Review" column in "Advertising Age has been a weekly must-read in the marketing world. Garfield's sharp, witty observations have buoyed--and buried--thousands of campaigns. In "And Now a Few Words from Me, Garfield looks at today's advertising and decries the emperor's lack of clothing. Why has "breaking the rules" become such a virtue? What are the ten commandments of advertising that are virtually guaranteed to work--and almost universally ignored? Garfield asks the tough questions and provides piercing--and always dead-on accurate--answers. Lost in today's endless stream of fast-cut production and shock for shock's sake is the idea that advertising, at its essence, is about nothing more complex than communicating a convincing selling idea to a prospective customer."And Now a Few Words from Me reminds us that sound and fury alone have always--and will always--signified nothing. Using the uncompromising approach that has become his trademark, Bob Garfield calls for a return to the rules and discipline that make great advertising great. "Each year at least three hundred thousand ads are produced--maybe it's three million--and a shocking percentage of them violate the rules, too, under the pitiful, misguided belief that such is the road to Greatness. But that is not the road to Greatness. It is the road to Extreme Suckiness ..."--Chapter 1 Bob Garfield, the voice behind "Advertising Age's widely-read column "Ad Review," is today's most respected advertising critic. And right now Garfield is angry at how off-target--andjust plain awful--an increasing percentage of ads that cross his desk have become. As Garfield himself writes, "No wonder I drink." "And Now a Few Words from Me is Garfield's call-to-arms. Sparing no sacred cows, he rails a Amid His Take-no-prisoners Citation Of Ad Failures, Garfield Also Lays Out Rules For Good Advertising - Commonsense Rules Too Often Forgotten Between The Initial Brainstorm And The Final Advertrocity. And Now A Few Words From Me Is A Primer, A Volume Of Case Studies, An Earnest Reflection, And A Hilarious Exercise In Journalistic Hell-raising. Advertising May Or May Not Get Better As A Result Of Garfield's Book, But It Will Never Be The Same.--jacket. Introduction. The Ten Commandments Of Advertising, Brought To You By God -- 1. Rules Are Made To Be Observed -- 2. Original Sin -- 3. Apropos Of Something -- 4. Exercise Regularly And Try Cutting Back On The Sex -- 5. Ogilvy Was Wrong -- 6. Be My Guest -- 7. Are You Doomed? : Take This Simple Quiz! -- 8. Hold The Sleaze, Please -- 9. Bless Me, Garfield, For I Have Screwed Up Big Time -- 10. Go Forth And Advertise. Bob Garfield. Includes Index. Annotation "If you crave insight into the wacky, zany, madcap--albeit very serious--business of advertising, this is a great place to begin."--Miami Herald A witty and frank look at the ad biz from one of its most respected voices Advertising has become an endless stream of clicheacute;s, cheesy productions, miscast celebrities, and gratuitous sex--and take-no-prisonersAdvertising Agecolumnist Bob Garfield has had enough. In the often hilarious, always dead-onAnd Now a Few Words from Me, Garfield looks at the best and the worst in today's advertising as he tells advertising pros that it's time to swallow their own egos, return clients' rights to the forefront, and--once and for all--eliminate bad advertising from the face of the earth "If you crave insight into the wacky, zany, madcap--albeit very serious--business of advertising, this is a great place to begin."--Miami Herald A witty and frank look at the ad biz from one of its most respected voices Advertising has become an endless stream of clichés, cheesy productions, miscast celebrities, and gratuitous sex--and take-no-prisoners Advertising Age columnist Bob Garfield has had enough. In the often hilarious, always dead-on And Now a Few Words from Me, Garfield looks at the best and the worst in today's advertising as he tells advertising pros that it's time to swallow their own egos, return clients' rights to the forefront, and--once and for all--eliminate bad advertising from the face of the earth. So, you know, I was reading Swann' Way, by Marcel Proust... just reading a little Proust one day...and while reading Proust, I happened upon a line that intrigued me.