Customer Reviews

And Now a Few Words From Me : Advertising's Leading Critic Lays Down the Law, Once and For All

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"Do not be so blindly determined to `think outside the box' that you are constructing your own coffins." This quote, which comes on page 127 of Bob Garfield's new book, "And Now a Few Words from Me," could be the epigraph for the entire book, or indeed for just about every ad review Garfield has written for "Advertising Age" over the last 18 years. An amused and often appalled observer of the wretched excesses of TV advertising, Garfield in his new book eviscerates a number of failed campaigns with the skill of a master surgeon reviewing a botched heart transplant. The operation's not a success, Garfield points out, if the patient dies. (And sometimes the patient DOES die: an abstruse commercial for a Virginia bank, he notes, led to the failure of both the bank and the ad agency.) As Garfield sees it, the problem with much of TV advertising is simple: too many ad copywriters get caught up in the "creativity" of what they do and forget their purpose is to sell products, period. Sometimes the problem is merely a bad choice of celebrity spokesperson--say, hulking millionaire Charles Barkley pitching econobox Hyundais, or red-meat-eschewing Cybill Shepherd as national spokesperson for beef. Just as often, however, ad writers simply whiz past their target audience (the "Dick" campaign for Miller Lite) or offend viewers to the very core of their being (Ford and GM using the 9/11 tragedy as a pretext for great deals on Explorers and Grand Ams). Garfield, as always, is witty, elegant yet blunt about these failures: "Don't roll your eyes and dismiss the negatives," he tells his readers, "because if you do, in due course, that's exactly what your target audience will do with you." He also insists that ad writers--despite their frequent statements to the contrary--are subject to the same rules of morality, decency and civility the rest of us are. He is particularly scathing about Calvin Klein: "(H)e is not an advertiser. He is an arsonist...(T)o portray children as sex toys parading before adults is the line that cannot be crossed." But Garfield notes that many advertisers lose sight of a basic fact: if you offend your audience, you are lost forever. The creative director of one agency once wrote Garfield to the effect that if he found TV advertising so offensive, he shouldn't watch. Garfield's reply: "Don't watch? Don't watch what? If advertising were programming, a viewer could make decisions about what to watch. But--I'll say this one last time--advertising isn't, so a viewer can't, so what's left to watch, if you choose not to be assaulted by advertising, is nothing. Which destroys the whole medium, you imbecile." "And Now a Few Words from Me" is a fast (200 pages), trenchant, often laugh-out-loud funny look at TV advertising that deserves a readership far beyond ad agencies. Anybody who watches TV will find it a great read.

...i'm not often a blesfemous man but this book IS Advertising Bible. you know nothing about advertising till you read THIS. it's a humane but yet frenzy and straight-talking study on how you SHOULDN'T make advertising; what often made mistakes to avoid. once you read it you go, "...so that's what advertising is all about. can't wait to get started..." now i often measure advertising(mine, others') by what would Bob say about it. hey, if you won't read this book you ain't never gonna know what advertising really is.

Not only should this book required reading for those just getting in to the advertisng business, it should be required reading for those already in the business. Garfield provides a reality check for those who need to know, and especially whose who have forgotten, that the purpose of advertising is to sell products. This extremely witty, insightful book reminds us of some of the ways inwhich advertising has failed at this, and sometimes failed on a spectacular level. Each page contains lessons to be learned, and for some, re-learned.

Garfield makes you laugh with his pun-filled, brutal analysis of what's bad advertising and what constitutues bad judgement in advertising. He credits advertising with some pretty heavy lifting in the economy -- which is refreshing. Garfield's smart and funny writing helps you quite painlessly get through some important thinking about consumerism and marketing. The book is divided into 10 short chapters (or as Garfield says in the intro, "The Ten Commandments of Advertising , brought to you by God.") which could practically stand on their own. This book is not just for people in the ad biz -- but also for people interested in marketing tactics, marketing strategy and the relationship between media and the consumers they try to influence.

"And Now A Few Words From Me" is the much needed wake-up call the advertising industry needs. On the heels of the worst 2 years in 40 for our industry, we would all be wise to heed Garfield's "Commandments," for while the industry certainly has changed, it's basic tenets have not. We are hired to move product, and we do that by connecting with our target consumers, not by impressing our agency peers while alienating and furthering the distrust of the general public. Wake up folks. If we want our Clients to spend more money, then we need to sell more stuff.

And Now A Few Words From MeBob Garfield

I would rate this as a truly terrific book with one major caveat: Skip the Introduction. Seriously. The author takes a little while to warm to his subject, as they say, and is, in the process, so annoying you might be tempted to put the book down (with a resounding thud) forever.
Dont. Because from Chapter one on it just gets better and better. While he primarily focuses on television commercials, most of his trenchant observations apply to all forms of advertising: that rules arent always meant to be broken; that its okay to borrow ideas, but never to borrow attention; that having a modicum of good taste is always advisable, especially when it comes to the use of sex in advertising and so forth.
He also has a great chapter that every client should read carefully wherein he spells out the perils that go along with cooking up claims and promises that are only quasi-true (as in legal let them get by) at best.
And his last two chapters are worth the price of admission all by themselves. In the first he succeeds in getting three titans of the advertising universeDan Wieden, Jeff Goodby and Phil Dusenberryto describe in painful detail the worst mistakes in creative judgment theyve made over the course of their otherwise brilliant careers. And in the second, he succeeds in doing something many might consider utterly impossible: he actually makes a very well reasoned (and almost moving) case for why advertising isnt the horrible endeavor many of its creators secretly fear.
A jaunty and informative read for anyone in the business. (Except for that too clever by half introduction.)

It's about time someone exposed the self-indulgent nature of the majority of the people in this business. Too many of us have forgotten that we are being paid to help someone sell something.This no-nonsense book is very well written, entertaining and a wake up call to the "wear all blacks". I highly recommend it.(It should be next to the Gideon Bible in the hotel rooms in Cannes)

I've long enjoyed Bob's reviews. He's not afraid to call a dog a dog and a peacock a peacock. This book is great even for those just starting out. I've used it extensively in an effort to educate others in the fine art of branding and advertising.

If you're afraid to laugh out loud at other's mistakes, don't read this book.

Ok, so Garfield might have a bit of an Advertising God complex, but he's not denying it! He toots his own horn like there's no tomorrow, but ya know what? He's earned the right with this book! Some of the pages make you laugh out loud, and other ones really make you think. Advertising in an un-invited guest and should treat the hosts with respect and dignity. Shock-advertising is nothing but offensive, and those who think that rules were meant to be broken will quickly find out that they were put there for a reason. I'm a big fan of his ideas.