The Unappreciated Writers

I wish to give a nod to a category or group of writers who, in many ways, I believe are unappreciated in the writing profession. I am talking about those who write copy for ads. Whether it is commercials for television or radio or ad copy for print publications, these men and women have an incredibly challenging job. What makes what they do most challenging and - to me - most impressive is the fact  they write for a largely hostile audience. How many of us, for instance, are watching a television show when as soon as a commercial cuts in we immediately get up and leave the room or begin talking with those around us. We do these things to pass the time until our program returns.

When leafing through magazines or newspapers, so many people zip past the advertisements as if looking at them might lead to contracting some kind of social disease. On the surface, it seems as if few enjoy advertisements in any venue or confess to watching or reading any of them. Despite that, revenue generated from advertisements is easily in the hundreds of millions of dollars each year.Why is that? One reason might be that people actually do not dislike advertisements much as they claim. Perhaps people pay closer attention to them more than they let on. Perhaps the copy for those ads are a lot more effective than any one cares to admit.

Writing copy for ads is difficult. The writer has strict limits on their space or time, yet still must communicate information and messages that are informative, motivating, persuasive, creative, and, most of all, memorable. This requires a great deal of hard work, including indepth research, and tenacity. Advertising writers face a great deal of competition beginning with the audience. People do not tune into a television show, for instance, to watch the commercials. Then there is the matter of competing against other advertisements, many of which are promoting the same type of product as you. So many of these men and women are as talented as any that put pen to paper for other reasons and in other fields.