You Must Read This

This is funny. But not for the reasons you might suspect.

I have no faith that Paul Ryan knows the Path to Prosperity. Similarly, I have little reason to believe that the Democrats possess the magic formula. These boneheads in Congress don't even know how babies are made.

But as the naive son of a CPA, the answer seems simple: we need to spend less than we earn.

We can eliminate tax loop holes for billionaires, bump the tax rate cap back to 39%, slap an exorbitant tax on bullets and armaments, make college tuition tax deductible, lop 20% off our bloated defense budget, shitcan the lobbyists, and cut off foreign aid to countries that promote fascism and the wholesale abuse of women and children.

That would be a good start.

I'd also like to institute some very strict anti-corruption statutes. A Zero Tolerance policy that states: any politician who gets caught with their fingers in the cookie jar will lose one of the aforementioned fingers.

I know it's a tad Sharia'n, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Of course, as anyone who works in advertising knows, strategies like the one in Mr. Ryan's hands, are a dime a dozen. It all boils down to execution. And you can always count on cronyism, bureaucracy and massive helpings of stupidity to screw that up.

But Paul Ryan has clearly learned a lesson taught to me by my old boss, David Murphy.
It's about packaging and the power of suggestion. I'll give you an example.

The year was 2004. And we were two days before a big presentation, we were reviewing a set of spots for a new business pitch. David liked the concepts and the storyboards but had a problem with the titles. "The titles?" I thought, "who cares about the titles? Consumers never see that."

Ah, but clients do.

So instead of naming a spot "CHOCOLATE" or "BEACH" or something equally obtuse like, "SPARE TIRE" why not grease the skids and start the ball rolling with something that will perk up the clients ears? Something that mirrors the brief and the strategy?

Since that epiphanous day, I have started employing the same method employed by Mr. Ryan. Now I will often start a presentation with:

This spot is called, "LEADERSHIP".

or

The first commercial in this campaign is called "INNOVATION".

Of course advertising isn't always just about the advertising. Often times I find myself presenting work to clients who are embroiled in office politics, with demanding shareholders, and shifting allegiances. In those situations, it's important to zero in on the issues at hand and come up with a title that covers all bases and appeals to other client desires.

So I also like to give spots names like, "A SURE CORNER OFFICE", "END OF YEAR BONUS" "NEW CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER" or  "GOLDEN PARACHUTE".