10 Dreadful Clichés The Ad Industry Should Euthanize

Intelligent people talk in simple clear language. Dimwits talk in dense jargon and mind-numbing cliches.

The marketing and advertising world has devolved into a cesspool of dreadful clichés, jargon and meaningless buzzwords.

Here are 10 bullshit ideas and phrases that advertising needs to jettison.

1. Native advertising
Code for ads disguised as editorial perpetrated by integrity-free online publishers trying to trick readers. A new low.

2. Interactive advertising
One click in a thousand is not interactivity. It is absence of interactivity.

3. The consumer is in charge
Hey, Edsel, when was the consumer not in charge?

4. Brand loyalty
For the most part, what we call "loyalty" is just habit, convenience, or mild preference.

5. TV is dying
Here's the only chart that matters.

                                           Source: Nielsen Cross-Platform Report, Q1 2014

6. Stories
Enough with the fucking stories. Advertising needs more than stories. It also needs persuasion.

7. Compelling content
Yeah, people can't get enough of that shit.

8. Disruption
The next person who says this dies. I have friends.

9. Personal brand
For people who don't know the difference between a lifestyle and a life.

10. The Conversation
What fucking conversation? 2009 is over.