Thoughts on Writing

Fairytales and fact-checks

Last year's Cannes Fact-check made a difference, but for as long as Cannes blurs creative excellence and social impact, it props up the same corporate…

Aug 3

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July 2026

Inside one Cannes integrity case

A story about Cannes fact-checking that I'm sharing for the record

Jul 21

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June 2026

Why agencies shouldn't be judged on diversity

It’s useful to understand who works in our industry. But including DEI measures in agency scores is statistically flawed and ethically dubious.

Jun 8

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February 2026

Cultural Tourette's – and advertising's 'white bear' problem

After a week that put Tourette syndrome in the spotlight, there are strange but important parallels in adland

Feb 27

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Race to the bottom

Locked in a state of Diversity Hypervigilance, adland and its regulators are bungling their way towards the world they want to avoid

Feb 19

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November 2025

Creativity needs criticism

Adland's misdiagnosis of its own creative malaise shows exactly why we need more critics writing more 'thought pieces'

Nov 21, 2025

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Strong piano, weak men

My important semiotic reading of this year's John Lewis Christmas ad

Nov 5, 2025

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October 2025

Embarrassing busybodies

Channel 4's latest 'Mirror on the Industry' report is diversity-by-spreadsheet from a clueless, self-appointed authority. Advertisers should reject it…

Oct 6, 2025

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August 2025

Genes, memes and manufactured dissent

The story of a Gen Z backlash that never was, a right-wing backlash that eventually was, a left-wing-influencer-academic backlash that definitely was…

Aug 1, 2025

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June 2025

The motte-and-bailey fallacy, and a response to a decent response

(Not a full-on post, more an extended LinkedIn reply)

Jun 16, 2025

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May 2025

Stengel and a strange purpose autopsy

Despite omissions, a recent purpose conversation on the CMO podcast was at least 50% sane—and might be the closest we get to closure

May 23, 2025

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December 2024

My inherently problematic Christmas ad diversity audit

This year's crop of Christmas ads is ethnically and gender diverse to a fault. But there's a weird reluctance to admit it in adland.

Dec 17, 2024

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