TCC Podcast 34: The “Machine Gun” Approach with Jason Pickar

LA copywriter, actor, rapper, and comedian, Jason Pickar, is in the club for the 34th episode of the podcast. This episode of The Copywriter Club Podcast comes with a warning label (for mentions of a controlled substances that are still illegal in most states). Jason's an energetic writer with a portfolio full of engaging (and award-winning) work for his clients. In addition to his career path, Rob and Kira asked him about: • How to get on the stage at The Price is Right (and meet Drew Carey) • How Jason landed his first job (then another and another) in the ad agency world • His creative process—an idea he stole from improv • His “machine gun approach” to making sure his ideas get picked by the client • Writing 100 headlines in an hour • Why companies do “branding” • How he stays creative, and • How comedy and improv strengthen his copywriting Jason’s agency experience is different from most of the copywriters we've interviewed for the show. So load up your iPod (or other listening device) and pull out your notebook. This one's a good one. You can also click the play button below, or scroll down for a full transcript. The people and stuff we mentioned on the show: Sponsor: AirStory The Price is Right Jason on the Price is Right Deutch Drew Carey McCann Erickson MRM TribalDDB ShaveEverywhere.com BodyGroom Monologues Break Media (now Defy Media) Weber Shandwick BrandCenter The Creative Circus Miami Ad School Bookshop LA AdHouse AgencySpy Gilmore Girls Jason’s Twitter Jason’s Instagram Jason’s Facebook Freewordsfree.com Kira’s website Rob’s website The Copywriter Club Facebook Group Intro: Content (for now) Outro: Gravity Full Transcript: The Copywriter Club Podcast is sponsored by Airstory, the writing platform for professional writers who want to get more done in half the time. Learn more at Airstory.co/club. Kira: What if you could hang out with seriously talented copywriters and other experts, ask them about their successes and failures, their work processes, and their habits, then steal an idea or two to inspire your own work. That’s what Rob and I do every week at the Copywriter Club podcast. Rob: You’re invited to join the club for Episode 34, as a chat with copywriter Jason Pickar about writing for television, working on brands like Dr. Pepper with Madison Avenue ad agencies, how acting and comedy inform his writing, and how to get on the game show The Price Is Right. Kira: Hey Rob, hey Jason, how’s it going? Rob: Hey guys. Jason: Hey. It’s going great. Good intro. I’m down with that intro. Rob: Yeah, let’s get to it. Jason: Yeah. Kira: Okay. All right. So I think, Jason, a great place to start is with The Price Is Right. First of all, everyone needs to watch the video of you on that show. I just watched it before jumping on here. It’s ridiculous, and Jason’s ridiculous, and it’s hilarious. How did you get on the show, and what was the catalyst for even jumping into that arena? Jason: You know what? That is a very appropriate question, because I appeared on The Price Is Right on the same day that I picked up my severance check from an old agency I worked at, Deutsch. The catalyst was, quite literally, that whole thing had kind of fallen apart. The creative directors, I’d gone through four of them. Finally, we landed on one. My art director had left. It wasn’t the right fit, so we parted ways after two and a half, three years or so. Then I was at home, just watching TV. I was like, “Oh, man, I’ve always loved The Price Is Right. I’m living in Los Angeles, there’s no reason I can’t go on The Price Is Right.” So I went online, I got a ticket. You go to the studio at, like, 5:00 a.m. Hours and hours and hours before you’re even supposed to be there. I was, like, the second one in line. The key is to just have extremely high energy, be extremely friendly. In the line, they put a couple ringers in there. They’re like, a friendly old woman who is actually kind of notifying the producers who’s good to be on TV, and things like that. Rob: Wait, wait, wait. I’ve got to interrupt here, because, “Really? They do?” Jason: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not that early… Rob: How did you know that? Jason: ... but later in the day. Because you go online, and you go to articles, “How to Get on The Price Is Right,” and they mention that. I wouldn’t mention it if I hadn’t had a really nice conversation with this older, African American woman, and she had kind of implied that I would definitely be on the show. Basically, everyone waits in line, and then they let you in the CBS studios, and you keep waiting in line. You start filling out paperwork. Then they give you a name tag with your name written on it in the very special The Price Is Right way, and then everyone meets in groups of six, with the producer. You talk to a producer for 30 seconds to a minute, and they ask you some questions. Then that’s when they decide fully whether you’re going to be on the show or not. Rob: So you’re meeting with the producer. Are you acting kind of crazy, or just sort of being ... Because the clip of you on the show, you’re a little over the top. Jason: I mean, that’s what they want, right? Kira: Yeah. It makes great TV. Jason: Yeah. I went in there knowing that they want someone with a lot of energy. I actually drank a 5 Hour Energy right before walking into the theater, because I had been waiting since 5:00 a.m., and by then it was like noon. Yeah. I mean, they want someone with a lot of energy. It’s a lot of emotion. You get called on down. I had joked with these guys in this row a couple rows ahead of me that if I get called down, I’m going to just run right to them, and give them a huge hug. That’s exactly what happened. It also helps to have a specially designed t-shirt for the show. I had this super bright orange shirt. You want a bright color that will match the settings of The Price Is Right. Then I had an art director friend of mine design that ice climber guy from the ice climber game, except with Drew Carey’s face, and it said “Yodelayhee Drew.” Another friend of mine, who has a t-shirt company, screen printed it for me. When you work in advertising, you meet a lot of people with a lot of skills that can come in handy for things like getting on The Price Is Right. Rob: I feel like we should probably just end the show. We’re good. So much value already, right? We’ll link to the clip of you on The Price Is Right, because it is funny, it’s fun to watch, and it’s one of those things that anybody who’s watched The Price Is Right when they’re home sick, or off of work or whatever ... What a great career aspiration. Kira: Before we move on from The Price Is Right, though, what were you thinking as you were in it? Were you just so pumped up, or were you just like, “I can’t believe this is happening?” Or were you just caught up in the moment? Jason: It was all adrenaline. I get called up, and I run down, and they put an item up, and in my head 747 pops up, because it’s the plane. I’m like, “Sure, 747. That’s the way to go.” Then that was the right one. Which is, it’s nice, because I won that prize, but the next prize up for grabs was two iPhones ... I know the price of that, 1198 ... Then that’s a chance to win a car. Unfortunately, I did not have that opportunity. A man named had that opportunity, who you see pop up later when he makes it almost impossible for me to out-spin him. Rob: That was a tragedy. You missed the dollar by one space, right? Jason: I missed what I needed by one space both times. Rob: Yeah. Heartbreaking. Jason: Yeah. It hurts. Rob: Heartbreaking. Okay, so let’s back up a little bit, Jason, because your career didn’t start with The Price Is Right. How did you get into copywriting? You’ve done something very different from most of the people we’ve talked to, and that is, you’ve worked at several agencies. We’re really curious about the process of working at an agency, getting hired by an agency. So tell us a little bit about your career path to where you are now. Jason: Everyone at agencies has completely different ways that they came in, and completely different stories of how their career went. I can only give advice based on me and what I’ve seen, but it started in college. I thought I wanted to be a history major, maybe pre-law. I was studying film as well. One night I got super high. So terribly high that it’s kind of like, when you’re still beginning to smoke pot, and you’re like, “What drug did I take? Was there cocaine it that? I don’t know what’s going on. Did I accidentally smoke PCP?” It’s that weird, like, “I’m not happy about this.” So I was in a fetal position on my top bunk bed in my dorm room, and I had this realization that I didn’t want to be a lawyer. The only reason I thought I wanted to be a lawyer is because I like arguing with people and convincing people of my opinions. Wouldn’t it be more fun to convince people of opinions in going the film route, going the entertainment route? So I was like, “Oh, I could do advertising.” I immediately starting taking all these marketing classes, and film classes. I was a film major. I kind of put those together. Then I got really lucky, because I have an older brother, and that’s helpful because if you have an older sibling who’s gone to college before, maybe they know someone who can help you out in your career. His friend was an art director at McCann Erickson, and he got me an interview for an internship at McCann Erickson in New York between my junior and senior years of college. I took that interview. I pat myself on the back, I killed it. I got into this internship program. They had 20 or 30 interns across media, and creative, and account and all that sort of stuff. I, again, got really lucky. I got put into this group where it was me and an art director named Jay. We were working directly with two ECDs,