Yet another example of a copywriter not choosing words carefully is the radio commercial I heard today for PC Richards, a local electronics retailer.

The offer promoted in this commercial is free high-definition (HD) channels on I/O cable when you buy a new HDTV from PC Richards.

The copy suggests that with the money you save getting free cable, “you can spend a little more on a TV.”

We get what they mean, but somehow, it came out wrong. What consumer buying a TV wants to spend more money on it?

My rewrite: “With the money you save getting free cable, you’ll be able to afford the TV you really want — even that new wide-screen for watching the game this Sunday.”

What do you think of my rewrite — better, worse, or neutral?

Do you agree that the original “you can spend more” missed the mark?

“Dad,” my oldest son Alex called from our living room, where we keep one of our family PCs at home. “You’re on YouTube!”

And he’s right:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLnD6YyyVD4

I didn’t know it, but a conference promoter put video of my speaking at his Internet marketing event on You Tube.

My questions is: does this benefit me in any way? How can I measure it?

In my old age, I am being dragged kicking and screamining into the brave new world of Web 2.0 — and I have barely begun to master Web 1.0!

Do YOU market with social media? Does it work? How do you know?

One of my pet peeves is copywriters who don’t think about the meaning of the words they write.

For instance: a TV commercial for an over-the-counter sleeping pill I saw today said “drowsiness” may be a side effect of taking the pill.

Isn’t that like saying death is a side effect of being executed?

The whole point of a sleeping pill is to make you fall asleep.

Before you fall asleep, you have to become drowsy.

It isn’t a side effect: it’s the benefit of the product.

In my opinion, sloppy thinking leading to sloppy writing.

Your thoughts?

When I was a teenager, a favorite activity was to lose oneself in reading books, and in our spare time — mainly on weekends — we could sit for hours with the Lord of the Rings or the Foundation Trilogy.

I thought Harry Potter had reawakened the passion for reading in today’s generation, but apparently not.

According to an article in Fuel (11/07, p. 2), the average 15 to 19-year old reads an average of just 7 minutes — yes, only 7 minutes — per day on weekends.

Is literacy doomed? Are we raising a generation of ignorant kids who know much more about Gears of War than they do about World War II?

Does knowing things — and being able to read and understand a text — matter in today’s hyperlinked, Google-driven age?

I couldn’t believe me ears when I heard a radio commercial offering to sell a quicik-access airport pass.

I think the company was www.flyclear.com, and for $99 a year, they would sell you a pass that allows you to sail through airport security in minutes.

In an age of global terrorism, is this such a good idea?

What’s to stop terrorists and hijackers from buying this “go directly to the plan and bypass normal security” pass?

Probably I don’t understand the offer and it really is safe.

But am I the only one the least bit concerned with the idea of making it easier for people to get through airport security faster for just a hundred bucks?

Couples we know here in Bergen county NJ are absolutely frantic about getting their kids into a “good school,” i.e., an Ivy League college.

I’m not, because I’m convinced that where you graduate from college and the grades you get don’t play much of a role in determining your success in life.

“One tragic misconception is that you have to go to a prestigious, big-name academic institution to really get ahead,” writes Thomas Sowell in his New York Post column today.

He notes that the academic prestige of places like Harvard is based mostly on the research achievements, not the teaching skills, of the faculty.

Worse, unless you go on to postgraduate study, these big names may not be teaching you anything at all, since lower-levle courses are usually left to be taught by junior faculty members or even grad students.

So if the college you go to isn’t that important, what is the key to helping your child to be successful in life?

I am convinced it is largely one thing: encouraging your children to discover their true calling — the one thing that totally engages their interest and passion.

If you can do that, their natural curiosity, intelligence, and drive will take them the rest of the way.

Sowell concludes: “Getting into Prestige U. isn’t the life-or-death thing that some students or their parents think it is.”

There?s an old joke that goes: the proof that advertising works is that millions of people think yogurt tastes good.

I think even better proof is that marketers have conned consumers into spending $15 billion per year on bottled water brands ? about a third of which already use filtered tap water anyway.

Bottled water costs about a thousand times more per gallon than tap water. Worse, bottled water often contains more bacteria and impurities, because the EPA regulates municipal water systems more stringently than the FDA regulates bottled water.

Yes, bottled water is conveniently portable. But why not just buy a plastic bottle and fill it with cold water from the tap as needed? Can anyone say ?canteen??

Source: ?Water and Oil Shouldn?t Mix,? Ecoprint, 10/07, p. 3.

You can manipulate statistics to prove just about any point you want to make in your copy.

A case in point: the TV commercial for Senior Lending Network, a company marketing reverse mortgages to senior citizens.

It’s a direct response spot with a strong call to action: phone the toll-free number and get a free educational video on reverse mortgages.

When you think about it, this is like a local plumber telling you, “Yes, I am a very good plumber — I get many calls from my Yellow Pages ad.”

That’s only proof that he runs a big ad. If 90% of his service calls are repeat business from satisfied customers, then THAT’S more convincing proof that he is a good plumber, because his customers are happy.

The on-camera spokesperson, actor Robert Wagner, intones in a serious voice: “over a million Americans have already called Senior Lending Network to get this important information.”

Sounds impressive until you realize that it says nothing about how many customers have actually completed transactions with Senior Lending Network for a mortgage.

What it really means is that their copywriter wrote a really persuasive TV spot with a really strong free offer.

Impressive, yes, but hardly a reason to do business with them, wouldn’t you agree?