Every Creative will fall into some kind of creative routine when it comes to developing ideas. I want to break down my creative routine to really see what are the little things I do that helps me be individual as a creative.

A day in the life of Copywriter Kevin:

7:00 am: Alarm goes off. Snooze. Snooze again.

7:15 am: Alarm 2 goes off. Snooze both alarms.

7:33 am: Get out of bed. Visit the facilities. Brush my teeth. Put in my contacts? Maybe. Nah, I’m too tired.

7:50 am: Everything bagel. Onion and Chive cream cheese. Coffee. Ready to face the day.

8:00 am: First class, still don’t know the name of it. I don’t pay attention. I write. I use being tired as interesting time to write because my state of mind is not normal. I’ve written some of my best lines in my morning classes. I didn’t today.

9:30 am: Portfolio class. Get my feelings hurt. Wait one of my 100 ideas has potential? Today is going to be a good day…

11:00 am: String Cheese. Fruit cup.

12:00 pm: Begin two-hour nap. Wake up in three hours.

3:00 pm: 15 minute lunch. Work starts at 3:30

3:30 pm – 6:00pm: At work, but not working on their work. My work. I write again. I do my worst writing at this time. It’s hard to focus, but you have to get those crappy ideas out of you.

6:30 pm: Dinner. TV. I watch too much TV.

9:00 pm: back to work. It’s a Tuesday, so it’s sort of almost the weekend. A glass of whiskey as a write sounds lovely. Drink four glasses of whiskey. Write half of a good line! It’s already 4 o’ clock?

5:00 am: 2-hour sleep (nap?)

7:33 am: Wake up. Wrote half of good line last night. It was a great day.

There are always going  to be advertisements I’m going to hate, but there’s nothing I hate more then a poorly done product placement in a TV show or movie. A show I believe is the best at being the worst at this, is Hawaii 5-0 on CBS. This is one of my favorite shows that is currently on television, but I simply cannot stand their product placement. It is actually atrocious. Besides the fact that apparently everyone in the world drives a Chevy, I first noticed how bad it was when they did a Bing product placement. Here they are trying to catch this mass murderer or criminal, when they find the need to research something. “Why don’t you Bing it?” suggests one woman. “What’s Bing?” asked the guy. “YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT BING IS?!” she fired back like he just asked what year it was. She then proceeded to show it to him, with the camera zoomed in on the Bing logo for 10 seconds. IT’S A DAMN SEARCH ENGINE! It’s not that big of a deal. Yet no matter how entertaining their storyline can be, they refuse to notice just how bad their product placement advertising can be. You can’t just zoom in on the product or mention the brand name three times. To have successful product placement, it has to be subtle, subliminal even. I refuse to use Bing just because of that one episode. And if I didn’t already love Subway so much, I would have stopped eating it after a similar poor display of advertising in another episode. “Can’t function if I don’t have my damn, stupid subway sandwich everyday” says unimportant character with his terrible promotion. Yeah, is that so? You suck.

There have been many great advertisements over the years; many that I COULD say were my favorites, but I’m not like the typical people in society who pick the famous Old Spice ads as their favorite or the vintage Budweiser ones. Instead, my all time favorite ad only came out last year, for the Longhorn Network. It’s titled “Little Longhorn” and features a young girl maybe around the age of 7, listening to her father tell her a bed time story. The story however, isn’t like the usual stories for 7-year old girls, featuring fairies and princesses. Instead her father is finishing up a wonderful tale about how quarterback Vince Young for the University of Texas, runs into the end zone to win the National Championship against USC. At that part of the story, the girl just has the biggest smile on her face, begging her father to tell the story again, and as you will see below, she cleverly convinces him to do so:

I think what I love so much about this commercial, is that it’s essentially a summary of my childhood in a 30 second TV spot. I see myself, sitting in my fathers bed, listening to him tell famous stories of Longhorn Football. That was the life I grew up with. I have maybe replayed this commercial 30 times on YouTube, because every time in brings up this great nostalgic feeling. That’s what a great commercial has to do. It has to please people everywhere, but if it could truly touch just one person, then it’s a masterpiece.

I hadn’t grown up wanting to be in advertising, but I can’t help but feel that the things I grew up with had pushed me in this direction. My favorite show growing up (and admittedly still now), was the Rugrats, and the more I think about it, I realize that the Rugrats would make a great advertising agency:

·      Tommy Pickles- Copywriter: Tommy was born to be an ad man. He’s the Don Draper of 90’s Nickelodeon. There hasn’t been an idea that the gang went with, that didn’t come from Copywriter Tommy. The copywriter’s role is so vital to driving campaigns and ideas, and Tommy was without question the source of the best ideas.

·      Chuckie Finster- Art Director: Every good copywriter needs a great art director, and Chuckie would be that for Tommy. Chuckie would latch on to Tommy’s ideas and just run with it, like any good art director would. And I hate to be stereotypical, but Chuckie was also a bit quieter and less social then the rest of the group, just like many art directors.

·      Angelica Pickles- Creative Director: Unfortunately, copywriters and art directors many times have to run their ideas by the big boss. That would be Angelica, and she would be one hell of a mean boss. But Tommy and Chuckie have to understand, that just because Angelica is being tough on them, doesn’t mean she hates their ideas; she just wants to push them to be better. That is what makes Angelica, a quality Creative Director.

·      Phil and Lil- Account Planners: You can’t come up with ideas without clients, and Phil and Lil have the social skills for the task. They just get people and have that outgoing personality that would win the business of many great brands. They would know just how to sweeten the deals too: with a nice, juicy worm.

I present to you, the perfect advertising agency comprised of the hardworking characters from the Rugrats. Yep, looking back, it all makes sense.

People like to look towards inspirational works for guidance. Some find motivation in religious works like the Torah or Bible; others find it in the works of philosophers and scholars. But true inspiration, comes from an unlikely, lesser known masterpiece: Disney’s, A Goofy Movie. One may doubt my reasoning behind this statement, but truer words have never been spoken. A Goofy Movie is in short, brilliance squeezed into 76 minutes. It tells the story of love, betrayal, fear, bravery, friendship, and other powerful aspects of life. This film follows Max Goof, a confused preteen that just wants to win the heart of his middle school crush Roxanne. A normal life however, is difficult for young Max when his father is none other than Goofy Goof. Max faces the near impossible task of strengthening his relationship with his father while simultaneously courting Roxanne. This constant struggle that Max must deal with, will literally empower you to be a better person. My life changed that sweltering April day in 2009, when I decided to re-watch A Goofy Movie for the first time since my childhood. I owe everything that has happened since that moment, to that movie. I know that because of those lessons learned, I will be a better person, a better student, and one day a great father just like Goofy Goof. I would not be where I am today if it weren't for that movie, and I implore anyone seeking motivation in life, to turn to A Goofy Movie. I think I’ll go home and watch it right now.

Sequels are creative, and those of you that say Hollywood has lost its originality and creativity by making a sequel are simply wrong. Sequels can be done creatively, as long as they aren’t half-assed. These movies and TV shows are designed to win the views of the old fans and have to be good enough to bring in new ones. It’s a risk to make these sequels, because a poorly made one can destroy the original’s image, (see Sandlot 2, except don’t). What brought this topic to my attention, is the announcement of the 90s favorite Boy Meets World sequel, poorly titled Girl Meets World. Though the title itself lacks creativity, the show still has promise. You can choose to say that a sequel to this show is absurd and will destroy what was once loved by my generation, or you could see the decision as what it really is: insanely brave. The creators of this show know what they are getting into, and know what they have to do. They have an incredible opportunity for creativity in front of them, and as long as they put all they’ve got into it (like getting back the original cast), they can succeed. Making a true sequel can in a lot of ways be more challenging then creating a new idea. An original show or movie was a creator’s best idea. By creating a sequel, they’ve decided to take on the challenge of coming up with an idea that’s better then their best idea. That’s not easy, and though many do fail, giving sequels a bad rep, the ones that succeed are excellent displays of creativity. That being said, I will continue to buy movie tickets to sequels and I will definitely be watching shows like Girl Meets World. At the same time however, I will embrace the fact that there are times when creating a sequel would be idiotic, and I would like to explore a few of these possible titles:

1.     Titanic 2: Rose moves on (As you can see, Titanic 2 actually exists)

2.     King Kong 2: Moving Kong off the Street

3.     Black Swan 2: Recasted

4.     Se7en sequel: Ei8ht

5.     Lost Sequel: Found

6.     How I Met Your Mother sequel: After I Met Your Mother

Eh, you get the point. If sequels are going to be made, they shouldn’t be taken lightly.