Bent / Straight

Wayyyyy back in my school days something was drilled into me when copywriting: Bent / Straight.

Every print ad (the simplest medium to learn) has one visual, and one headline. And all the best ones play one of those things straight, and one of them bent. If your copy is going to be totally straightforward safety instructions, you’ve got a blank check to make weird and wild imagery to keep it interesting.

That was what I was thinking of when writing silly jokes for the Teijin Automotive Technologies safety video. We had a great client, Kim Zitny who not only instructed but demanded that what we come up with be interesting and not your typical safety video. That trust extended into helping execute some pretty ridiculous ideas all played out by real employees on a working factory floor.

It was some of the best fun I’ve ever had at work.