How to Write Good Ad Copy: Let Someone Else Write it for You

My day job is write ad copy, so I know it ain't always easy to craft stuff that'll grab attention and speak well of a product. Still, I had to crap on the advertising for Southland after seeing one of its early ads. It's getting good ratings for the moment (being in the time slot after 30 Rock doesn't hurt) so maybe the show is better than its advertising. The show's reviews are generally positive, and the NBC advertising folks have been smart enough to let someone else's advertising speak for them. Now that it's called "Don't-Blink TV" thanks to Randee Dawn's review from the Hollywood Reporter, maybe some NBC advertising lunkheads won't get in trouble. They certainly should after initially picking the worst dialogue from the show and wrapping it up in a cloying, overblown, swelling-music ad package. At least they were astute enough to see someone else doing better advertising than they were and to spread that pilfered catchphrase on the video section of the show's site. I won't be able to watch much TV for the next few years (having children tends to fill a schedule), so I'll just hope that the reviews are deserved, because it's a terrible thing when poor advertising kills something that's genuinely good. The show-killing ad execs at NBC would be wise to offer Randee Dawn a job for crafting their ad campaign for them.