Posted on 01/20/2009 6:26:53 AM PST by oblomov
I'm thrilled by the election of Barack Obama, and I don't want to miss a word he says. In fact, all the days since Nov. 4 have seemed a bit like Christmas morning, waking to his mellifluous voice that reveals yet another distinguished individual picked to head an operation that he or she is supremely qualified to lead and is not intent on undermining.
"You're acting like a groupie," says my husband. But for an ad person and former copywriter, it is especially thrilling to go from a guy who wielded the English language like a hacksaw to a real writer. And by all indications, that rare sub-species, a copywriter, a persuasive communicator like FDR or Churchill with the talent to capture ideas and emotions vividly yet succinctly, in words that touch people and move them to action. And yes, I know he has speechwriters, but also that he does some of the important stuff himself.
"There's not a liberal America and a conservative America -- there's the United States of America." A hundred words or so of great copywriting.
It's about more than rhetoric or style. And it will affect more than politics. Barack Obama's elevation of the public conversation signifies a renewal of respect for the people he is addressing. He doesn't condescend, he doesn't dumb it down. To borrow the words of a great San Francisco copywriter, it's a "conversation among equals."
And he can be an inspiration to all of us who contribute to the endless conversation we now carry on around the clock, around the world, in all conceivable channels, including advertising.
One of Obama's most poignant refrains came late in the campaign: "America, we are a better country than this." That resonated more for me than some of the "change" slogans that bear the stamp of multiple writers and sleepless nights on the campaign trail (change that works for you, change we can believe in, change we need, we are the change we're looking for, etc.).
"Yes We Can" comes from terrain familiar to us ad folks, but look what he did with it in the brilliant speech that spawned the YouTube videos.
I'm not crazy about "The American Recovery & Reinvestment Plan," but then I guess he has to leave some stuff to the staff.
And then there were the election-night words that even impressed William Kristol, not to mention the 39% of U.S. households with dogs.
"Sasha and Malia, I love you more than you can imagine, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House".
"Not bad," said Kristol. "It could be a tough four or eight years for conservatives."
The country has never been more in need of a great copywriter. May we be blessed and inspired by his gifts for many years to come.
Good grief.
Excuse me miss but you got some kool-aid on your dress.
And, which past accomplishments, dear Millie lead you to say he's supremely qualified, hmmmm?
Please deal in facts. Not feeeeeeeeeelings.
What dribble.
What dribble.
Bill Ayers is president?
Actually, this entire premise is false. There is nothing that distinguishes Barry - not even being of mixed race, which is increasingly more common. He is not supremely qualified to lead, and was way past his paygrade as a community organizer. Lastly, he fully intends to undermine our founding principles and set the nation to ruin.
This HAS to be a joke, right? Who would hire this dunce to be a copywriter?
These weenies have fought America tooth and nail for the last 8 years, now they think they have a United States of America with this Kenyan as President.
Supremely qualified to lead?? Good Lawd. This woman has her head up her butt. Obama doesnt know crap from Shinola.
“..he doesn’t condescend, he doesn’t dumb down..”
The dumb usually recognize ‘dumbing down’ as ‘making alot of sense’!
Thank you Millie for insulting Texans. Thank heavens this twit is not a part of our in group. She would get laughed down constantly.
Read some of the comments that are posted under the article on the host site. You could drown in the intelligence /s
Okay. Ready to copy? Here it goes: "Blah blah blah blah blah."
NYT
“So easy, a cavemen can do it.”
“Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t.”
“Dude, you’re getting a Dell.”
“Please don’t squeeze the Charmin.”
Wow. I’m so good at slogans, I could be in charge of all fifty seven states. I want to be the C.I.A. director.
“A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”
This is what Thomas Carlyle so accurately saw coming: “the triumph of puffery.”
It reminds me of an old college roommate who was dating a girl whose father worked at a Chicago ad agency. Invited to the house for dinner, he listened as the father went on and on about how he was going to remake the image of Pabst beer, an account his agency had just landed.
After listening to this for quite a while, while having a few himself, my old roommate was asked what he thought.
He said: “There’s just one thing I want to know.”
The girl’s father asked: “What’s that?”
“What are you going to do about the taste of Pabst’s beer?
He responded. Actually I kind of used to like Pabst. But the point was well made.
At some point in the not too distant future, the real flavor of what is going on and the cluelessness of the One in dealing with it, is going to become inescapable.
This month’s issue of Advertising Age was so thin you literally could not tell the articles from the advertisements. Hopefully this useless rag of Obama kiss-ups will go the way of other POS publications.
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