2019: THE GREATEST YEAR IN ADVERTISING EVER IN THE HISTORY OF ADVERTISING!

As we embrace the new year and head into a new decade, GTT looks back at what was possibly— scratch that— looks back at what was undoubtedly, The Greatest Year In Advertising Ever In The History of Advertising!

Now, you may ask, “How can anyone say that?” Well, that’s exactly what advertising asked itself when it came to writing product claims in 2019. And the answer to both those questions is simply, “Because, we just can!”

We may have been told to believe by some that 2019, or even the entire 2000’s, saw a decline in advertising’s creativity. A diminishing of its smarts and power. As Sir John Hegarty has put it in one of his frequent dismays about the current state of advertising, “Our industry has lost its courage!” https://adage.com/article/rance-crain/sir-john-hegarty-ad-industry-lost-courage/294925

We here at GTT couldn’t (respectfully) disagree more!

2019 revealed an industry that was braver than ever with brands racing to the very top of the mountain shouting anything they could as loud as they could that would’ve turned lawyers heads inside out in the ‘old days’. Today, we are living in an era of unbridled conjecture and superlatives! No more mine fields to navigate, no more differentiations to point out, and the only unique thing about anything is that it’s better than anything else! Hyperbole? Uh-uh. Testimonial statements? But, none of these claims are in quotes! It’s the wild wild west all over again and everyone’s writing from the hip!

Let’s take a look!

NEVER SAY “EVER.”

2019 is not the first time such audacious claims of greatness have been made. We all remember (even you millennials) iconic World Heavyweight Boxing Champ, global humanitarian and obligatory anthem spot/manifesto cameo, the late Muhammed Ali when, as a young Cassius Clay, exclaimed “I am the greatest!” Well, he was. He beat everyone who stepped into the ring with him. No one was better.

But in 2019, everyone can be the greatest! And not just the greatest, but the greatest….EVER.

You can trace this watershed moment back to American Giant® with their -by today’s standards- humble boast of “The Greatest Hoodie Ever Made.” That’s quite a claim considering all the hoodies ever made up to that point. How could anyone possibly out-do “Ever made”? Well, in 2019, someone did! Purple® told us they made “The Greatest Pillow ever INVENTED.” (Fuck “Made”, this one was “Invented”!). But then before you know it, Swet Tailor® (not to be confused with Taylor Swift, Artist of the Decade) threw their boast into the ring with “The Most Comfortable Pant, Ever. PERIOD.” “Period” puts a period on that debate, right?! Check AND mate! Or so you’d think - What followed was a battle royale of brands and ads staking their claim to the highest ground they could lay their hands on! “The Pants Everyone Is Talking About!”, “The Shoe That’s Blowing Up The Internet!”, “The Last Pair of Underwear You’ll Ever Buy!”

But then no one was ready for what came next: The Cassius Clay of all headlines, when a cocksure glove brand named Samojoy decided to blow shit up by bestowing upon us “The Warmest Gloves In Recorded History!”

Yes, RECORDED history. And there it was folks; The Haymaker. The Tap out! How can you beat that?? You can’t! Unless you have a flux capacitor powered Delorean and your name is Marty McFly, you can’t find records that go back BEFORE recorded history! But then again, in the real world, you wouldn’t have to, because the whole point is that you can now boldly say whatever you want! So in effect, you CAN beat it! (boggles the mind, doesn’t it?) Oh, and you can bet your bottom dollar someone will. “The Fastest Blender Ever Conceived By Sentient Beings!” …or, “The Softest Hat Ever Farted Out of Someone’s Ass”??

We can only hope and wait for those lines to hit the wires.

NOT JUST A SOCIAL EXPERIMENT

“Surely, this is contained only to social media advertising” you might say, “as a way to capture people’s attention as they scroll through food pic after food pic, it’s all transient banter.” (ok, you might not say “transient banter” or even “surely”) But this renewed advertising hubris isn’t contained to just social, it’s seeped into the grandaddy hallowed ground never-say-die of all mediums; Television.

I remember working on Nissan way way way back in the late 90’s when you couldn’t depict a wheel not fully touching the road in an ad. When you had to have “professional driver, closed course.” appear on any driving footage. You could barely say “fastest” even if it was and everything had to be qualified by “in its class.” Legal had an iron grip on our creativity! Had we only been able to be work on a liberated car brand that legal departments everywhere came back with “Ah fuck it!” and you could call your SUV “The greatest exploration vehicle of all time!” in a TV spot the way Ford can today! (JD Power & Associates be damned!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icOKehR1Q0w

IF YOU’RE NOT THE GREATEST, YOU’RE NOTHING.

2020 and beyond will see brands making even more bold and audacious claims. And if they’re not, they won’t be around long. “A Very Good Chair That Looks OK!” wreaks of cowardliness. “The Refrigerator That Some People On The Internet Are Fond Of!” won’t sell units.

Not since Walt Disney decided to dub his new theme park, “The Happiest Place on Earth” have we been able to experience the boundless freedom of what lies beyond a world of just “better” or even “best”. This must have been what it was like when man first left Earth’s stifling gravitational pull or learned to count beyond the limited number of his or her fingers and toes.

To all the doubters of the industry, advertising is back! We have broken out of our cages and found the will and way to make thunderous claims normal and without the worry of how we’d back them up! Courage is roaring back louder than ever!

And that’s why 2019 was not just great, but The Greatest Year In Advertising In The History of Advertising!

Case closed.

(that is, until 2020 plays out)

NOTE: If you’d like to have your brand be part of this year’s greatest year ever in the history of advertising ever, give us a ring. It could be the greatest thing you ever do in the history of mankind!