No insights, no holistic solutions
Copywriting oddities, victories and curiosities

Here's where I torment a copywriting AI with a ridiculous brief to write an intro including 3 randomly generated words. This month they are: gaffe, law and coincide.

Humanity's death knell this month is - Neuro-Flash.com.

Thanks for joining us! We'll try not to let our legal gaffes coincide with yours.

This is getting scary now, not a good way to end the year!

This is another good AI. I'm not sure it was aiming to be as funny as it appears, but how many of us accidentally write something funny and put it down to our 'inherent genius'?

Just me?

Looks like I'm going to have to retrain as a bus driver or postman soon.
 

Some words what I liked.

'Baubles to waiting'

I actually LOL'd at this line when I first read it, well OK, it was more like a little chuckle but LC doesn't mean anything to anyone.

...and that's as Christmassy as this newsletter gets.

Damn you, Dominoes.

Cooking up an alternative concoction.

Country tourism slogans are an interesting niche in the world of copywriting. And when I say 'interesting', I mean 'car wreck'.

I wrote about this on LinkedIn last month whilst thinking about some 'Copy Swap' images (see below), and so I thought I'd try and rewrite some.

You've got to be bold.

This is a country, not a shampoo.

Many fall into the trap of actually trying to encapsulate a whole country in 4 or 5 words, and end up being bland as hell or just confusing.

On the flip side, you've got to be apolitical and non-stereotypical. A thin tightrope to walk, and a lot of them look as though they've been voted in by committee like Eurovision.

There's an epic battle over where mankind first began;

Egypt - Where it all begins
Ethiopia - Land of origins
Mozambique - Come to where it all started
Israel - Land of Creation

Anyway, let's check out some of the poorer ones out.

New Zealand - 100% Pure - a sharp intake of breath through gritted teeth.
San Marino - San Marino for All - bland.
Nepal - Once is not Enough - I'd say everyone who has had frostbite would say otherwise.
Oman - Beauty has an address - Yeah, it's wherever Eva Mendes lives, not some sandy petrostate.
Ukraine - It’s all about U - I'll stand in front of a mirror and save my money then.

The champion by a country mile is;

Djibouti - Djibeauty - perfection.

So let's give some of these a quick make-over;

New Zealand - 100% Natural - less eugenics.
San Marino - Dream big - it's either that or how they always lose football matches.
Nepal - On Top Of The World - this must have been used before it's such a no-brainer.
Oman - Oh Man! - my personal homage to Djibeauty.
Ukraine - So good even the neighbours want it! - #slavaukraini

Above is my attempt at this genre using a non-existent country so I don't spark an international incident.

Calling all national tourism boards!



I'm going to need at least 2 weeks in your country to properly immerse myself.

From the sublime to the inappropriate.

Jamal is hoping Hannah is the last victim of his dropped files a few months ago.

He's single-handedly almost cleared out the creative department.

Hannah is sitting outside HR after mixing up Mozambique's tourism slogan with a colonic irrigation clinic.



The creative director can't believe this latest run of bad luck.

Worse, the finance director keeps cracking 'gags' at every opportunity; that sucks, you're shitting me, don't lose your shit, the bottom's fallen out of it...etc...

Jamal is putting the final touches on his CV, apparently HR is running thin on candidates so he's going to try his luck.

Some words of wisdom from an esteemed word mongerist.

The Bullmore collection

Mark Ritson posted about this on LinkedIn last month. I've never heard of Jeremy Bullmore but his credentials are pretty stellar, making me the neanderthalic philistine (although, both of us don't have a Wikipedia page, so, you know, swings and roundabouts).

Every year, Jezza writes an essay for the WPP annual report - not sounding too good so far, right?

But this sage makes tonnes of sense and illuminating points, in his yearly treatise. Well worth picking a random one and having a read.

"We may long for the comfort of the clipboard; but we need the copywriter more."



There's a lot of reading there, so one essay per week and by June, you'll be the Plato of advertising...probably. 

Click >> The Bullmore collection

Wotcha!

This is the eighth Word Monger newsletter.

If you've enjoyed them, please let others know.

Retweet or like/repost a LinkedIn post.

Cheers,
Ben.

Subscribe > https://www.ellis-copywriting.co.uk/newsletter.php

ps. Here's something I liked that you might like too

Avatar '2' is really good.

I saw it in 3D IMAX so it looked amazing too.

If you liked the first one, then you'll like this one even more.

It's a better story, with more interesting characters, more intertwining storylines and it sets up more films well. It may not win any writing awards, but it's better than most blockbusters.

The motion capture/graphics are 'outstanding'. The 3D is well done, integral and not gimmicky.

Will it leave a cultural imprint or become even more infamous for the supposed iconic void of such a huge hit? 

Whatever. Definitely see it in the cinema though.