Lame Commercials Need Nerd Power

Rick Bruner of Executive Summary comments on the sameness and lameness of today’s advertising with its overuse of “cars swooping around mountain highways” and dumbed down teen focused ads targeted to jock skateboarders, basketball players and Britney Spears fans who, as Rick says, “peaked in high school and are now selling vacuum cleaners or the like.”

Rick suggests that, rather than pander to this lowest common denominator, marketers should “celebrate something wholesome in their ads, like being smart.” He offers up two examples of how this might play out if marketers cared about the smart kids.

Picture of Steve Hall

Steve Hall

RECENT ARTICLES

TRENDING AROUND THE WEB

Long practice appears to reshape attention from the inside out

Long practice appears to reshape attention from the inside out

Hack Spirit

Mindfulness begins long before peace: it begins with learning to stay

Mindfulness begins long before peace: it begins with learning to stay

Hack Spirit

The fire at a Zen monastery is a reminder that Buddhist teachings are meant to be lived, not admired

The fire at a Zen monastery is a reminder that Buddhist teachings are meant to be lived, not admired

Hack Spirit

Oxford’s expanding mindfulness research reflects a deeper shift in how inner life is being understood

Oxford’s expanding mindfulness research reflects a deeper shift in how inner life is being understood

Hack Spirit

In a distracted age, learning to notice may be a form of self-protection

In a distracted age, learning to notice may be a form of self-protection

Hack Spirit

As social media’s emotional cost becomes harder to ignore, a quieter inner life is starting to look radical

As social media’s emotional cost becomes harder to ignore, a quieter inner life is starting to look radical

Hack Spirit