#59: 'WTF' edition, take the cake not the crumbs, and why ideas like Lady Doritos keep happening
WHAT A WEEK.
It's the kind of week that calls for a SPECIAL WTF EDITION of the World's Best Newsletter.
I also had to share a badass VC taking no BS, a helpful and real explanation behind mediocre marketing, and some insight as to why ideas like 'Lady Doritos' keep happening.
Join me first with a deep breath...
and let's get into it. Edition #59 contains:
1."I came for the cake, not the crumbs" - VC Arlan Hamilton, in Quartz
2. Here are 40 reasons good people make crap content - Velocity Partners
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3. Those awkward Super Bowl MLK ads from Sunday
4. "Darker, Gayer, Different"
5. LADY-FREAKING-FRIENDLY DORITOS
6. Why these bad ideas keep happening.
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7. Look, a politician who cares about women
8. Quote of the week
1."I came for the cake, not the crumbs" - VC Arlan Hamilton, in Quartz
This story is a must-read about Arlan Hamilton, Founder & Managing Partner at Backstage Capital - a Silicon Valley fund dedicated to investing in diverse founders.
Her story from being broke and ignored to today's success is incredible, as is her mindset:
Yes. Read the full interview.
2. Here are 40 reasons good people make crap content - Velocity Partners
The luminous Doug Kessler asks, "why do so many smart, talented people make so much mediocre content? What happens between intention and delivery?"
A preview:
Aiming Low
Misplaced Service Ethic
Me-too Marketing
Fear of Stealing
Lazy Stealing
Chickening Out
Obsession With the Rational
Read the full list.
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SPECIAL WTF SECTION
3. Those awkward Super Bowl MLK ads from Sunday
Quick note to marketers: Maybe don't use an anticapitalist sermon in your campaign meant to sell things... maybe read the full sermon, first. Or EVEN BETTER, listen to this advice from Doug (featured 2x this week!)
"Think hard before attaching your brand
to things that matter way more than your brand ever could."
"Adding to the disconnect, the sermon in question, delivered exactly 50 years ago, touched on the danger of overspending on items like cars and discussed why people 'are so often taken by advertisers.'" - NYTimes
Oops.
4. "Darker, Gayer, Different"
This week, Faux News EVP John Moody wrote about the Olympics:
“Unless it’s changed overnight, the motto of the Olympics, since 1894, has been ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger.' It appears the U.S. Olympic Committee would like to change that to ‘Darker, Gayer, Different.’"
Ben Freed summarizes this nicely on Twitter:
Hey, John Moody, unless it's changed overnight, the inscription on the Statue of Liberty has read since 1903:
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
MOTHER OF EXILES. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Can you not.
5. LADY-FREAKING-FRIENDLY DORITOS
You have no doubt seen "Lady-Friendly Doritos." This is why we can't have nice things.
I found this perfect thing on the internet:
I also want to highlight this perspective of Heidi Moore in WashPo. I've stylized her paragraph like a poem, because it's poetic, and it's my newsletter, so I can do that.
"The American woman, if you go by commercials, is a bizarre creature.
To write, she wants pink pens; to choose a soft drink,
she wants to be assured she’ll be skinny afterward;
when selecting makeup, she wants to create an entire new personality each time she applies lipstick;
she considers cleaning floors a feminist, patriotic act
akin to the work done by women who built American munitions during World War II
— think of nearly every campaign Peggy Olson got stuck on.
And, apparently, when a woman chooses to snack,
she wants it Cheeto dust-free, library-quiet and compact enough
to be tucked in a night-out-size clutch."
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6. Why these bad ideas keep happening.
From that same WasPo article "Why even female CEOs pitch bad ideas like Lady Doritos":
"Call it unconscious bias, call it internalized misogyny, call it whatever you want, but women — half of people — have been treated as outliers for so long that we’ve never properly studied their needs and lost sight of what a coherent market for women’s products should look like. That’s how we get Lady Doritos when we just need clothes with pockets."
I think it's a mixture of being tone-deaf, out of touch, and wildly unoriginal. Poor marketing. Soggy bottoms.
7. Look, a politician who cares about women
This week's news about Rob Porter beating not one, but two women and our government deciding to ignore it, (because, you know, what's the big deal) begs for some contrast and context.
That came in the form of Prince William warning teens about unrealistic beauty standards for women (Vanity Fair article.)
In comparison, our dear leader, I mean, president owned (and was a creep show at) beauty pageants like Miss Universe.
8. Quote of the week
"Husband Of World Champion Julie Ertz Wins Regional Sports Trophy"
I loved this hilarious rendition of the Eagles Super Bowl win story, flipping the script a bit:
"Minneapolis, MN - The husband of World Champion soccer player Julie Ertz won a regional sports trophy for American Football on Sunday evening as the Eagles of Philadelphia defeated the Patriots of New England 41 -33. Soccer fans across the nation sent their support to Julie Ertz as they congratulated the success of the husband of the 2015 FIFA World Cup Champion and 2017 US Women's National Team player of the year."
Thank you for joining me for a super-snarky rendition of The World's Best Newsletter.
Do you have your tickets yet for the February 22nd Boston Content copywriting extravaganza!? No? What? Get them here.
Katie
www.katie-martell.com
@KatieMartell