Still crushing on the David Ogilvy book. How's this--for a Cessna campaign, he sent carrier pigeons with response coupons tied to their legs to prospects. "Several of them ate the birds," he said, but several were set free with the response and they sold at least one $600,000 plane.

Speaking of advertising, I'm developing a pretty strong aversion to Brooke Shields. You'll remember my exasperation that she, one of the renowned beauties of our age, feels like she needs prescription medicine to be even more beautiful. Now I'm bugged by her toothpaste endorsement. It starts with Brooke saying, "I like to eat healthy," and we see her chomping on a big stalk of celery, but then comes the complication, she also likes slices of lemons and limes, and they threaten the enamel of her teeth. I'd identify with her more if she were eating real effin' food, but probably still, not all that much. You're too good for us, Brooke Shields, we can't relate to your life up in the clouds.

There's another TV ad running that I'm sure isn't returning any portion of its budget in sales. One version of the ad is a guy offering two little girls ponies. One gets a plastic toy and the other gets a real pony. In another one, a little girl gets a bike, but she's not allowed to ride it outside a square painted on the floor. After seeing these a few times, I realized I had no idea what the product was, and even now that I know, Ally Bank, I can't figure out the logic of the campaign. Where's the promise, as D.O. might say. Fits in perfectly with the section I just read, "recall isn't the same as changed preference". A copywriter explains why, "If I want recall, all I have to do is show a gorilla in a jockstrap."