If Copywriters Have To Be So Good, Why Are Commercials So Awful

By Author: Jimmy Anderson
Total Articles: 41
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Professional copywriters.
We've all heard how incredibly hard it is for them to get into that crazy profession (it is). We all know how painstaking professional copywriters have to be to craft their portfolios in just the right way just to get interviews with those crafted portfolios (they do). And we all know that just by virtue of the fact that they're called 'professional copywriters' means that they're capable of producing grade-A-advertising right?
So why, after all that, do we switch on our plasma televisions and see a woman telling a jar of prune juice that she loves it soooooo much, that she's leaving her husband for it?
Holy cow.
How did THAT happen? All that creativity and brainpower...all those late nights and all those focus groups and all that everything...for a woman talking to a jar of prune juice?
The reason this happens is because of FEAR.
Clients eat, drink, sleep, and exist totally in fear. Fear that the commercials they approve will not move enough product.
We're talking about palpable, "I can see it on your face" fear.
When an ad agency presents ideas to clients, ...
... especially junior clients who are the first ones to see the work, they don't say to themselves "oh, good one. People are really going to remember our floor wax with that idea the creative tried to sell us with the gorilla and the exploding fire truck."
Crazy example, I know. But it serves a point.
Clients don't care how creative the commercial is. CLIENTS CARE THAT THE COMMERCIAL SELLS PRODUCT. It can not be made any more clear than that. Their jobs are based on numbers and performance, not whether or not a commercial is 'water cooler funny.'
That is why almost every commercial you see is TESTED. Tested to make sure the company logo registers in the first 4 seconds. Tested to make sure the color schemes match the brand position and personality. Tested, tested, tested.
And the clients will not release the spot until the tests say 'green light.' All butts are covered here. All of the research has come back, and this is a commercial that meets the criteria needed for you to keep your job, and your spouse, and your three car garage.
That tested. Tested within an inch of its creative life.
Clients want whatever they put their approval on to move product and move it faster than it was moved in the same quarter of the previous year.
And they live in fear of that non stop.
And because of it, the professional copywriters who work on their businesses must live in their world of fear.

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