(image: https://www.superdream.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/new-year-new-you1.jpg alt: new year new you)
New year, new you.” This is the line that every copywriter has, at some point in their career, thought about writing, or even written for an ad that’s gone out in January. “New year, new you” might be passable if it is used in body copy. By a junior. On their first day. When the creative director hasn’t got in to the office yet and someone in account management needs something in twenty minutes. And it’s their first day.
So. First out of the gates this year is Protein World, the proud brand behind last year’s much maligned “body shaming” ad and winner of (link: http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/top-10-turkeys-2015/1376237 text: Campaign’s turkey of 2015). I don’t know which is funnier: the fact that no lessons have been learned since (link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11565200/Protein-World-beach-body-ready-ad-vandalised-by-women-for-body-shaming.html text: last year) or that they’re actually using “New year, new you” as their (link: http://www.campaignlive.com/article/protein-world-returns-global-tv-campaign/1378229 text: campaign line).
> TV Campaign launching in UK,USA,FRANCE and GERMANY 2016 😎👌🏼🎬(link: https://twitter.com/hashtag/ProteinWorld?src=hash text: #ProteinWorld) (link: https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldTakeOver?src=hash text: #WorldTakeOver) (link: https://t.co/HAxSXXbNNm text: pic.twitter.com/HAxSXXbNNm)
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> — Arjun Seth (@arjun_seth) (link: https://twitter.com/arjun_seth/status/683791907911282688 text: January 3, 2016)
“New year, new you.” The first copywriter who came up with it must have clucked with pleasure at his construction, if only because he was the first one to do so. Because what’s so great about it? What makes it approach the realms of working as a line is only in the repetition of the “y” in “year” and “you.” That’s it. Everyone could have got there, and everyone has. Someone just got there before the rest of us. What’s surprising is that we keep on doing it.
It shows a lack of care, a lack of respect for what we do and for the people we are speaking to. Let’s all resolve to be less lazy in our thinking, more searching in our approach.
In the preface to (link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-War-Against-Cliché-1971-2000/dp/0099422220 text: The War Against Cliche), a collection of his reviews and essays, Martin Amis wrote, “To idealise: all writing is a campaign against cliche. Not just cliches of the pen but cliches of the mind and cliches of the heart. When I dispraise, I am usually quoting cliches. When I praise, I am usually quoting the opposed qualities of freshness, energy and reverberation of voice.”
Which brings us to a possible our resolution for us creatives. We should always be looking at new ways of saying things, new ways of framing things for people. It’s not simply about keeping the brands we work on relevant. It’s for the sake of our own careers. If we keep churning out cliches, no wonder so many people think they can do our jobs for us.
A real resolution needn’t be a designer swearing off Gotham for a while, or an art director going easy on the filters with their Instagram posts. We should be serious about this. It’s time to come up with some new stuff.
Forget body shaming. Let’s start cliche shaming. Let’s shame the creatives who lean on tired, overused devices instead of thinking for themselves.