Youth Say Anti-Vaping Ads, Most Initiatives Miss the Mark

July 22, 2019 As a former ad agency creative director, when I saw a bunch of Muppets trash-talking the Juul brand for an e-cigs PSA pitch I quickly went into “what the bleep” mode wondering how the branding could be so off the mark. I’m a huge fan of the former Truth Initiative campaign that used a ‘lift and reveal’ tonality of covert, corrupt tactics spotlighting the … [Read more...]

Fighting Fire with Fire: How Would YOU Counter-Market Vaping?

June 19, 2019 As an ad industry creative director I’ve spent years using applied science to flip messages in healthier directions by tapping into the same tactics that marketers use to hook their audiences early and often. (Here’s how I use marketing tactics to sell 'reluctant readers' on reading for fun, or getting kids to 'eat green' by using Shrek against junk food drek … [Read more...]

Juul Fools and Kill Bills: Deconstructing Health Legislation

June 12, 2019 Most of us remember the classic School House Rock, “I’m just a bill, yes I’m only a bill and I’m sitting here on Capitol Hill…” but maybe we need a new version that talks about how a bill is killed with a thousand paper cuts painfully sliced into vapid, ineffective nothingness by industry goodwashing yet still SOUNDS like a reasonable regulatory response? Such … [Read more...]