Asinine Advertising (Paperback)

~ Herschell Gordon Lewis (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

They're out there: The crooks and incompetents who not only cheat or mislead their customers with inept and unethical advertising. They cost you--the legitimate marketer--money in increased customer skepticism and resistance, which translates into lower response rates, lower productivity, and higher costs.

But, thankfully, Herschell Gordon Lewis, "DIRECT" magazine's Curmudgeon-at-Large, is out there too, exposing the crooks and incompetents with his patented, one-of-a-kind scathing analyses of what has gone wrong and what you can do to protect your marketing and your bottom line.

About the Author

Herschell Gordon Lewis is regarded as one of the greatest copywriters of the past half-century. He is author of 27 books, including the classic "On the Art of Writing Copy," "Selling on the Net," "Sales Letters That Sizzle," and "Marketing Mayhem."

Lewis has written for many trade publications, including "DIRECT," "Direct Marketing Magazine," "Selling," "1 to 1," "Direct Marketing News," and is copy columnist for "Multichannel Merchant" (formerly "Catalog Age"). He is a much sought-after advertising and marketing speaker for audiences all over the world. In 2003 he was inducted into the Direct Marketing Asociation's Hall of Fame.

Product Details

• Paperback: 132 pages
• Publisher: Racom (August 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933199008
• ISBN-13: 978-1933199009
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,848,661 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book about horrible copywriting and poor marketing, January 30, 2009

By	The Marketing Guy Who Drives Sales "Author of... (Charlottesville, VA United States) - See all my reviews

Herschell Gordon Lewis's book, " Asinine Advertising: How Stupid and Unethical Advertising Costs You Money", is an enjoyable 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 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.

~Review by the author of the e-book, "How to Build and Manage Your Brand (in sickness and in health)."