Kickin' it Old School

Every now and then I like to go back to old ads that I used to keep in my portfolio, dust them off and decide if I still like them. As a rule, I find it very hard to judge my own work.

In this trip down memory lane, we'll revisit Wendelstedt School for Umpires and Green Field Churrascaria.




To tell the truth, the umpire school ad is actually the very first ad I ever wrote that I liked enough to put in my portfolio. I came up with the idea back in the late 1990's while first starting to build my book through classes at SVA. This wasn't an assignment, but I liked it better than anything I was doing in class. There were others in the campaign too, but this one always had a place in my heart. I don't know if I took it out of my book because it was not as good as I remember, or if I'd simply tired of it after a decade or so.

The Green Fields ad were a classic case of picking a product you know and love and writing for it. The place is closed now, but I had an annual dinner there with friends for years. Meat, meat and more meat! The ads always make me laugh, I just never can decide if they actually sell the restaurant and make you want to go there. (Someone once told me ads are actually supposed to work from time to time.)

Anyway, I'm sure there'll be more nostalgia/self-flagellation in the future. As always, comments are welcome.

A Pun Done Well is Still a Pun...

This is an ad I conjured up years ago when working on a pitch for an Osteoporosis medication. I tweaked it slightly to make it for a foundation fighting Osteo. I still laugh at it every time, but when it was in my portfolio, creative directors would look at it, laugh out loud, and then say "you should take this ad out." I guess pun-bigotry is alive and well.