Write Like They're Smarter Than You.

Because many of them are.

By “them”, I mean your readers/viewers. And by “you”, I also mean me.

Above, dated and sexist, but you get it. Or, as Tom McElligott liked to say:

“I’d rather overestimate than underestimate the intelligence of the consumer”.

I read/watch many ads every day. Too fucking many. And with too many of them, the “creative” or “joke” is aimed at a very wide common denominator; gotta make sure everybody “gets” it. Which is the absolute wrong way to think during “ideation”. Often, some marketing exec (agency- or client-side) will play “Devil’s advocate” and kill your good, “risky” ad because he/she (usually, he) is “concerned” that “some” won’t “connect” with it. (Could one of you marketing types rewrite that last sentence with more buzzwords? Thanks.)

What’s not smart: Calling your car/whatever an “odyssey” or the “future of awesome”, etc. What is smart: Tell Me The Fucking Truth In An Entertaining Manner. Nine entertaining examples of smart copywriting below by copywriters who respected the the reader by telling the truth.

(sigh, sigh, sigh) Yes you need to buy a subscription (HERE) to see my articles. I’m not lowering my paywall today or tomorrow or the next day or etc.