I just finished reading Herschell Gordon Lewis’s new book, “ Asinine Advertising: How Stupid and Unethical Advertising Costs You Money”, and enjoyed the read.
Mr. Lewis is one of my favorite authors. His “On the Art of Writing Copy” has a prominent place on my bookshelf and his column, “Curmudgeon-At-Large”, in Direct Magazine causes me to read the publication starting at the back each and every month (just before I go tearing through to see if there is a Tom Collins article).
“Asinine Advertising” offers great case studies in truly horrible advertising. While this book is more of a comment on poor copywriting and lack of creativity in many advertising departments, it serves as a reminder that we must all guard against the tendency to create marketing communication messages that sound similar to other current ones we’ve heard recently rather than concisely communicating true benefits using a new, fresh and personal communication style. In the new world of email spam, Herschell points out that many business communications across just about all media are taking on the same characteristics of spam—and he builds a strong case.
While readers of Direct will be familiar with much of the first half of the book because it seems like it’s been covered in his column before, there is enough fresh material here to keep you engaged—and laughing at the absurdity of it all.
While the $22.95 price plus $7.00 “Freight/Handling” for the 132-page paperback might someday, in itself, earn its own chapter in the book, I won’t complain too loudly because I’ve spent more on much lesser book offerings in the past.
Don’t buy this book if you are looking for “How to” information or a formula for writing good advertising, but by all means if you get a kick out of seeing bozos skewered, then sit back and enjoy the [quick] read.
If you are also looking for the “What to do’s” rather than just the “What not to do’s”, then you might also consider Ted Nicholas’s, “
How to Turn Words Into Money”.
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