Little known fact about me? I occasionally run. Can’t say I’m a hardo about it, but I like to limp around my neighborhood in a trot you could barely call a jog, sometimes.

I hear you. Running sucks. still, the thing is…some people really love it. And, being the amateur hobbler that I am, I kind of get it.

So, how do you write lovingly about a “hobby” that most people abhor? Braggadociously, of course.

Nice effort here, for that one little shoe company out of Bavaria.

File this under “cute.”

(And, man, do I love me some cute!)

A fun way to think of recycling as an incentive to recycling? How about taking out the trash and turning it into something valuable?

Ok, that’s all I’ve got, for now. Consider this me, “giving you some time back.”

A little about me…

I’m 6'5", 240 lbs, have difficulty speaking in an “indoor” voice, and I tend to sneeze louder than most sonic booms. Suffice to say, I’m not the world’s most subtle person by nature.

But, I appreciate subtlety. In fact, I aspire to it. I’m a work in progress. All that to say, subtlety in headlines is a lost art.

This ad comes from the time when the art wasn’t so lost and I have no idea what the copy below the headline reads (I can’t sustain a squint for that long), but I don’t think it’s needed. I think the headline speaks for itself. It’s an elegant way to say: you get what you pay for.

Job well done, you subtle fox of a Volvo writer.

Another campaign from the great Nigel Roberts, a person I know virtually nothing about other than that the website that bears his name has a bunch of great advertising writing on it.

These two executions should serve as a brief masterclass on how to say something without actually saying it…which, come to think of it, is an excellent formula for generating great headlines (and a pretty tiresome meme format, if I’m being honest).

So what’s being said without actaully being said, here? You’re going to be more informed with the Guardian. Perhaps, the most informed.

And, there you have it.

I don’t know if you’ve ever written anything for money (not as dirty as it sounds, I promise), but it’s hard as hell to start from nowhere.

Never underestimate the value of a good brief. A brief brief even. It’s great to have something to check your writing against, especially if it’s concise. It really helps you start from….well, somewhere.

I wish more people would write short, informative briefs. I also wish I could buy a house in California. It’s scary to think that one of those things is more likely than the other…but, probably not the one you’re thinking.

And, as long as we’re talking about brevity here, I should wrap this up. Here’s a brief. It is good. Enjoy.

So, a more proper blogger would have researched Greenpeace a little bit and given a deserving lead up.

But, I’m not here to bring you that sort of expertise.

I’m here to point out how these headlines describe how you can support some pretty intense activities in a very passive way, which I’m all about frankly.

And there I go giving away too much insight into my own psyche, again. Is this post over yet?

I suppose the American Healthcare system is an easy punching bag for jokes. Hey, it sucks.

But, that doesn’t mean these aren’t good lines. It does mean we should see more good lines for this type of thing. Maybe, I’m contradicting myself.

Speaking of contradictions (no, this segue wasn’t on…

At least from a marketing perspective, Netflix has always suceeded in laughing at itself (though I’m still waitingon a Qwikster send up). Working on a brand that can see the humor in its ways makes the copywriter’s job about as hard as it is easy. If that makes sense.

On the one hand, there’s a lot to work with. On the other, it needs to be instantly relatable and immensely shareable. So, pressure was on. But, the team stuck to the brand voice here and played with the language in a few different ways, to pretty funny results.

(Also, this show has terrible reviews, so there’s another challenge in and of itself!)

Lastly, I present the finished piece…