Let’s look at health-related copywriting. A telly ad I didn’t understand has prompted me to write about it. I’m talking about that shingles ad. “Get to know shingles because shingles knows you.” I think it says. I’ve seen it loads of times and yet I still have no idea...
What’s in a name
Telly ads normally make me glaze over and zone out, but the latest/current one from Hyundai caught my ear. The entire ad was about how we’ve all been pronouncing the name wrong. I don’t know how long Hyundai has been around or why they chose now to do this (though...
The Train Guy and plain English
Let’s talk about trains! I’m kidding. Seriously who needs to read another word on trains and whether they are running, packed, cancelled, non-existent, etc? No, when I say trains I’m talking about The Train Guy. If you are unfamiliar, The Train Guy is a character from...
Climate Change is not the X Factor
The tone around climate change has to change. Less X Factor and Eurovision next time please. And there will be a next time.
Green Claims Code
We hope it will give confidence to those businesses whose products are genuinely ‘green’ to provide consumers with the information they need to make informed decisions.”
The wonder of plain English
I’m not a big podcast fan BUT I have a select few I’m quite fond of. One is Three Little Words by comedian John Bishop and actor and writer Tony Pitt. They ask guests to bring in and discuss three words they love and one word they’d rather never hear again. The last...
On the climate catastrophe – again
Did you hear the news? It’s all our fault, all of it. What is you say? The climate catastrophe that’s what. On 5th August the UN IPPC (which stands for Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) published their latest report which laid the blame for the climate...
Clear comms on climate change
What is your personal impact on the planet? Or that of your company? Any idea? Probably not. Whilst we are surrounded by messaging on climate change and stories of human-induced climate catastrophe in the form of news pieces, telly programmes and films, and awareness...
Keep it simple stupid (KISS)
Some copywriters have a niche. Mine is plain English. That’s it. Some copywriters have a passion for certain sectors or topics. My passion is plain English. That’s it. Verbose copy is so difficult to read. It must be a nightmare to write! You have to keep re-reading...
Evolving language
A couple of days ago I read a piece about teachers banning slang in classrooms and jumped on a quote in the piece from linguistics expert Ian Cushing, a lecturer in education at Brunel University London who said, "There's no incorrect or correct way of using...