Orson Welles rants about sloppy copywriting while recording Findus advert (yes, you read that right)
The magnificent Orson Welles tears a lowly ad agency copywriter a new one after recording a Findus advert in London.
This recording beautifully illustrates how difficult it is to be a copywriter. Just because you can write, it doesn't make you a writer. And being an editor also doesn't make you a writer. Whether a writer is working agency or client side, your work is open to criticism. From everyone. Just because.
Writing is so subjective. And often there is no basis on the comments or change other than not liking it and not understanding the importance of a comma or the evolution of language. If I had a Pound for every argument I've had about cutting out superfluous copy and starting sentences with the word and, I wouldn't need to be a copywriter.
People don't appreciate that when you're writing for consumers, you only have 30 seconds to grab their attention. In the days of billboards and long TV ads (like this one), you had the luxury of people's undivided attention and months of exposure. Now, with realtime micro-blogging on social media, PPC ads, TV on demand and marketing noise coming at you from every angle, wherever you are - you have 30 seconds to make an impact.
People don't appreciate that when you're writing for consumers, you only have 30 seconds to grab their attention. In the days of billboards and long TV ads (like this one), you had the luxury of people's undivided attention and months of exposure. Now, with realtime micro-blogging on social media, PPC ads, TV on demand and marketing noise coming at you from every angle, wherever you are - you have 30 seconds to make an impact.
Actor and auteur, Orson Welles is an intellectual's hero. His arthouse movies are always cerebral. For him to reduce himself to voicing fishfinger adverts is sacrilege. However, even here he eloquently weighs-in on the quality of copy.
I have to say, I mostly agree with him. Writing in a way that's grammatically correct just doesn't sound right when you're talking out loud. Beautiful when reading it, however cumbersome to say. As we move towards writing in a more conversational way, grammar is almost irrelevant. And as we become increasingly digital, it's important to use language and punctuation in a way that gives copy tone, colour and makes it human.
No one says crumb crisp coating. It doesn't even make sense, surely it would be better to say crispy crumb coating. Also, it's the cooking process that makes it crispy and Findus won't be doing that. The copywriter removed crumb, but this word is the perfect adjective for the product, more so than crisp. There's a difference between breadcrumb batter and crispy batter. So therefore not accurately building a picture of what the product is.
I'm not sure where he was going with the 'in July' rant. Showing wintery scenes, followed by 'In July' is taking the viewer on a journey. However, this depends on what was said beforehand and shown thereafter, as it runs the risk of being disjointed.
If I were writing this for Findus, it would go a little like this:
Mrs Buckley grows the finest peas on her Lincolnshire farm. And every July, when they're ripe, she picks them for us to freeze. Making your family dinner farm fresh and packed with natural goodness.
There's a fiord in Norway where all the best cod gathers. And we're on hand to add our unmistakable crumb coating as soon as they're taken out of the water.
It actually took me longer to write those five sentences than it did for me to write this entire blog. That's how difficult it is to write copy. And no doubt, you have an opinion on it.
Writing is all about emotion, whatever that may be. You build emotion with something that sounds like you, not something that sounds like a stuffy professor from the 1920s or a robot. Writing is the real Turing Test, you can't grow to love something that sounds cold. And this is what proper grammar does, makes copy cold and not human.
Despite this video causing Orson Welles fans to recoil in disgust at him selling out, he proves that you can find artistic value everywhere and that Orson Welles is a true artist, no matter what he does. And that there is a true craft to writing ads. So don't pooh-pooh copywriters, as it's the most difficult form of writing there is.
I have to say, I mostly agree with him. Writing in a way that's grammatically correct just doesn't sound right when you're talking out loud. Beautiful when reading it, however cumbersome to say. As we move towards writing in a more conversational way, grammar is almost irrelevant. And as we become increasingly digital, it's important to use language and punctuation in a way that gives copy tone, colour and makes it human.
No one says crumb crisp coating. It doesn't even make sense, surely it would be better to say crispy crumb coating. Also, it's the cooking process that makes it crispy and Findus won't be doing that. The copywriter removed crumb, but this word is the perfect adjective for the product, more so than crisp. There's a difference between breadcrumb batter and crispy batter. So therefore not accurately building a picture of what the product is.
I'm not sure where he was going with the 'in July' rant. Showing wintery scenes, followed by 'In July' is taking the viewer on a journey. However, this depends on what was said beforehand and shown thereafter, as it runs the risk of being disjointed.
If I were writing this for Findus, it would go a little like this:
Mrs Buckley grows the finest peas on her Lincolnshire farm. And every July, when they're ripe, she picks them for us to freeze. Making your family dinner farm fresh and packed with natural goodness.
There's a fiord in Norway where all the best cod gathers. And we're on hand to add our unmistakable crumb coating as soon as they're taken out of the water.
It actually took me longer to write those five sentences than it did for me to write this entire blog. That's how difficult it is to write copy. And no doubt, you have an opinion on it.
Writing is all about emotion, whatever that may be. You build emotion with something that sounds like you, not something that sounds like a stuffy professor from the 1920s or a robot. Writing is the real Turing Test, you can't grow to love something that sounds cold. And this is what proper grammar does, makes copy cold and not human.
Despite this video causing Orson Welles fans to recoil in disgust at him selling out, he proves that you can find artistic value everywhere and that Orson Welles is a true artist, no matter what he does. And that there is a true craft to writing ads. So don't pooh-pooh copywriters, as it's the most difficult form of writing there is.
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