The path to the bathroom from my office was short, yet precarious as the CMO sat in the corner office. He summoned me inside, recognizing the look of a Wanderer. The look of a copywriter with an active imagination, and an empty queue. “Do you want to do more creative writing?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” I replied, as a dream came suddenly true.
“Can you write for radio?”
Having never tried, the only answer was, “Absolutely.”
I went from a full bladder to a full portfolio in record time, hammering away any doubt along the way. First was mastering the rare art of turning AFSCs into siren calls, leading young men and women to fantastical careers. Then the task was translating the brand’s message to sports enthusiasts tuned into ESPN radio. Before long we were appealing to, parents, college students, counselors, women, teachers, mechanics, and active-duty military.
In total, I wrote ~100 ads over a two month period, with ~30 being produced. We never produced my favorite ad, a provocative late-night spoof ‘Shop Talk,’ but it lives eternally as office lore – the most risque copy ever written for America’s military.