BETTER LATE THAN NEVER - Who won the shirt and Why

I started this post several months ago, got caught up in other things and realized I failed to recognize a student who worked hard and won a Kamikaze Copy Sin shirt for her efforts.

Last term I announced a tag contest.  Lexus has a new tag composed of two Kamikaze Copy Sins - Experience Amazing.  As many of you know, experience as a noun and/or verb is a KCS (Kamikaze Copy Sin).  Amazing, a true KCS to anyone passing through my class' experience.  

Both words are overused relics of Ad Ages past.  Experience, a holdover from the New Age 80s (thank goodness another from that era, Paradigm, has all but vanished).  Amazing, from the birth of Medicine Shows and non-magical magic acts.  Amazing's still non-magical.  Both, over used to the point of meaningless.

Who won the shirt?

Kudos to a winner!

India Allen won the Kamikaze Copy Sins shirt for submitting the winning Lexus tag redo.  To  judge fair and objectively, I gave Circus co-founder and super recruiter Carol Vick a list of the finalists:

Amen

Roar

Machine Alive

Drive On

Uninvisible

Auto Exotica

Ignite

I explained the assignment to Carol, sent the list without comments or attributes. Carol – who probably knows more about what agencies are buying than anyone else I know – picked India’s entry,

Drive On

The Winner.  I think we had some good choices for her pick from.  Here’s India in her shirt.

Always thought the shirts were pretty cool.  India really dresses it up.

Before you say, "Wait!  I would have chosen ________," let me remind you.

Advertising is subjective.  Carol's job is different than mine.

Carol's job is to determine what Creative Directors are looking for.  In this case, I'd guess a line the Lexus driving public can relate to.  Prospect Centricity, after all, is my mantra.

My job, to get you outside that comfort zone and come up with something no one has seen before.  Not every Creative Director's cup of tea, but a sure way to stretch you as writers/concepters.

Although we've not discussed it, I believe Carol picked India's line on its power to (pardon the pun - you know I rarely resort to them) drive a CD to think the copywriter crafting India's line can write.  And write for just about any brand.

I'm proud of India and her line.  She had some tough competition and proved one very important thing:

India grokked Lexus' Prospect.  The can-afford and want-to-afford what has become a standard-bearing brand for the mainstream of people she wrote to.

She also makes the shirt look darn good.

Congrats, India!