And Now a Few Words From Me: Advertising’s Leading Critic Lays Down the Law, Once and For All
On June - 23 - 20105 COMMENTS
Product Description
“A brazenly funny . . . and hard-hitting book.”
–Publishers Weekly “He [Bob Garfield] is irreverent, funny and tough.”
–USA Today “If you crave insight into the wacky, zany, madcap–albeit very serious–business of advertising, this is a great place to begin.”
–Miami Herald And Now a Few Words from Me is Bob Garfield’s call to arms. Sparing no sacred cows, the respected Advertising Age columnist rails against the mind-set that has reduce… More >>
And Now a Few Words From Me: Advertising’s Leading Critic Lays Down the Law, Once and For All
What promised to be good fun trashing commercials is paper wasted on ego, arrogance, and overbearing liberal political viewpoints. The insights are sparse, trite and superficial, and boil down to one: Commercials aren’t programming that viewers can plan to watch or avoid.
Hmm mmm, that’s nice, but that’s not even a magazine article, let alone a book.
Plan to avoid this one.
Rating: 2 / 5
I’ve long enjoyed Bob’s reviews. He’s not afraid to call a dog a dog and a peacock a peacock. This book is great even for those just starting out. I’ve used it extensively in an effort to educate others in the fine art of branding and advertising.
If you’re afraid to laugh out loud at other’s mistakes, don’t read this book.
Rating: 5 / 5
Ok, so Garfield might have a bit of an Advertising God complex, but he’s not denying it! He toots his own horn like there’s no tomorrow, but ya know what? He’s earned the right with this book! Some of the pages make you laugh out loud, and other ones really make you think. Advertising in an un-invited guest and should treat the hosts with respect and dignity. Shock-advertising is nothing but offensive, and those who think that rules were meant to be broken will quickly find out that they were put there for a reason. I’m a big fan of his ideas.
Rating: 5 / 5
And Now A Few Words From Me�Bob Garfield
I would rate this as a truly terrific book with one major caveat: Skip the Introduction. Seriously. The author takes a little while to warm to his subject, as they say, and is, in the process, so annoying you might be tempted to put the book down (with a resounding thud) forever.
Don�t. Because from Chapter one on it just gets better and better. While he primarily focuses on television commercials, most of his trenchant observations apply to all forms of advertising: that rules aren�t always �meant to be broken�; that it�s okay to �borrow� ideas, but never to borrow attention; that having a modicum of good taste is always advisable, especially when it comes to the use of sex in advertising and so forth.
He also has a great chapter that every client should read carefully wherein he spells out the perils that go along with cooking up claims and promises that are only quasi-true (as in legal let them get by) at best.
And his last two chapters are worth the price of admission all by themselves. In the first he succeeds in getting three titans of the advertising universe�Dan Wieden, Jeff Goodby and Phil Dusenberry�to describe in painful detail the worst mistakes in creative judgment they�ve made over the course of their otherwise brilliant careers. And in the second, he succeeds in doing something many might consider utterly impossible: he actually makes a very well reasoned (and almost moving) case for why advertising isn�t the horrible endeavor many of its creators secretly fear.
A jaunty and informative read for anyone in the business. (Except for that �too clever by half� introduction.)
Rating: 4 / 5
It’s about time someone exposed the self-indulgent nature of the majority of the people in this business. Too many of us have forgotten that we are being paid to help someone sell something.This no-nonsense book is very well written, entertaining and a wake up call to the “wear all blacks”. I highly recommend it.(It should be next to the Gideon Bible in the hotel rooms in Cannes)
Rating: 5 / 5