Our Favorite Commercials From Super Bowl LIII

Unless you’re a New England Patriots fan like me, Super Bowl LIII wasn’t much fun to watch. Fortunately, we still had the commercials. Here are the ones we liked the most at The Hired Pens. (And by the way, Thrillist ranked their top 51 commercials — you can see them all here.) Pringles: Sad Device […]

An Open Letter to Oui Yogurt From Moms Like Me

Dear Oui French Style Yogurt from Yoplait, Is it okay that I addressed you by your formal name? I’m not sure on the proper etiquette when writing to dairy-based products. Anyway, I don’t know what kind of crazy market research you did. But since you’re owned by Yoplait, I suspect it was extensive and expensive. […]

What a Simple Paper Sign Can Teach Us About Effective Marketing

As anyone who reads our blog knows, my entries feature a reference to Diesel Café approximately 33% of the time. Why? As a small business owner, I really appreciate when other small businesses get it right. (Also, I go there a lot.) And Diesel routinely nails it. So it’s no surprise that when they upped […]

Rule Number One for Good Product Writing: Make People Actually Want Your Product

As a copywriter, I pay particular attention to both good and bad writing. The good is inspirational and bad copy is a reminder of what not to do. Both make excellent fodder for blog posts. The new radio spot for Gold Peak iced tea is my latest example of “the bad.” I tried to find […]

Business Advice from the Juice Guy

If you’ve been tirelessly following our blog, you know that last week Dan and I got out of our office to attend a few FutureM events. All about “the future of marketing,” FutureM had a great lineup of events along with some engaging speakers, including Tom First. If Tom’s name sounds familiar, it’s because you […]

Revitalized Content Will Help Unify Your Workforce

Newly hired employees returning to the workplace in 2010 will be among the most enthusiastic. How can employers tap into their optimism and zeal? Many of these new workers have previously been downsized, and they may be struggling to regain their self-worth. Enabling them to share their stories and skills will address this issue — […]

Literally the Best Writing Advice Ever

If the title of this post sounds familiar, then you must also be reading Paul Yeager’s new book, Literally the Best Language Book Ever. A man after our own hearts (especially Dan’s, who prides himself on his grammatical prowess) Yeager identifies hundreds of illogical expressions and language miscues he wishes we’d all quit saying. My favorite […]