Intro To My New Book

I recently spent several weeks away from this blog trying to finish up a new book I've been working on called 101 Contrarian Ideas About Advertising. Here is the intro to the book.

Introduction

The title of this book is 101 Contrarian Ideas About Advertising. But, as you'll see, there are actually 105. You paid for 101, but you're getting 105. Consequently, you owe me four contrarian ideas.

I’m not going to be a dick about this. If you don’t have four ideas, you can send me four bucks or something. How about four bottles of Ketel One? Whatever seems fair.

Now that we’ve gotten your obligations out of the way, let’s talk about the book.

It’s mostly stuff I wrote for my blog The Ad Contrarian. In three years of writing The Ad Contrarian blog, I published about 50,000,000 pieces. Most of them were pretty stinky, but there were a few good ones and I think they’re nicely represented in this collection.

The difficult part of writing the blog was that I toiled mercilessly and received not a penny in return. It’s payback time. You want to read something about advertising that isn’t the usual brain-liquefying drivel? This time it's $14.95.

There are some pieces in this book that are not about advertising. They’re about things like fish, and cosmology, and singing our national anthem. I have called it 101 Contrarian Ideas About Advertising because I thought 101 Contrarian Ideas About Advertising And Fish And Cosmology And Singing Our National Anthem sounded stupid. I think you’ll agree.

I have spent more time than is healthy in the ad business. During my unbecoming longevity, I have developed a deep and abiding cynicism -- not so much for the ads themselves but for the way in which the ad business is conducted. It has been my experience that bad advertising gets punished by the market, but bad advertising business practices are thriving as never before.

One blog called my last book “the best ad book of the last 10 years.” They have since, on several occasions, tried to take it back, but I have it in writing, so they can’t. Ha!

I like to think of this new book as “the best ad book of the last 10 minutes.” I realize it’s not a great accolade, but at least it’s something.

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy it. And if you don’t, write your own damn book.

By the way, the three funniest words in the English language are nympho, homo, and Kotex.