Question of the Week
What Images Are Too Cliché for Law Firm Ads?
Posted Nov 1, 2007 9:40 AM CST
By Molly McDonough
On his Business Development blog not long ago, lawyer and marketing expert Peter Darling made note of the images one should never use in a law firm ad because they are cliché—gavels, eagles, scales of justice are just a few.
Then this week, midsize Chicago firm Much Shelist launched an ad campaign using hot air balloons to urge clients and talent to cut loose from the BigLaw pack.
This made us wonder...
What images should be avoided at all costs in law firm/lawyer ads? And what are some of the more creative images you've seen in lawyer and law firm ads?
Tell us in the comments below.
See last week's Question & Answers about unwiring.
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- ABA Executive Director Resigns
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Comments
Andrew Sussman
Nov 2, 2007 9:21 AM CST
1) Sharks.
2) People in suits at conference tables with West Reporter or Martindale-Hubbell volumes on the background shelves.
3) Shiny office buildings, with or without law firm anchor tenant signage on top or in front.
4) Stately courthouses or architectural details from same.
5) Carved stone tablets containing the 10 Commandments or the Code of Hammurabi.
6) Happy clients wallowing in Scrooge McDuck-like piles of moneybags. (Ok, I made that up. But when it becomes an advertising cliche I’ll object to it, too.)
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Wm. 'Skip' Arbuckle
Nov 2, 2007 9:28 AM CST
Explosions, fires, & car crashes.
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Emily
Nov 2, 2007 10:08 AM CST
The Constitution. An attorney in Boston uses it as the scrolling background throughout his commercial—but he only does personal injury law.
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Steve Carb
Nov 2, 2007 10:10 AM CST
Since we’ve allowed professional advertising in the first place, why presume to judge what’s Right or wrong, tasteful or disgusting, Let the clients judge what works or doesn’t, as long as it’s within the ever shifting boundaries of “good taste” and “professionalism” We’re in a free market. What counts is sound legal advice and results (or vice-versa for the clients).
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Greg
Nov 2, 2007 1:24 PM CST
Scowling attorneys with arms crossed in their best “I am a Bulldog, really!” pose, usually on the courthouse steps with a laughable message like “Fighting for the People”
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maybe I like the cliches
Nov 2, 2007 10:41 PM CST
If I ever decide to advertise, I’m going to pose my bulldog-i-est pose on the steps of the courthouse, holding the Constitution in one hand, scales of justice in the other, surrounded by my neck-brace wearing clients throwing bags of money in the air. I love what I do. Whatever field of law you practice, love it, be proud of it. Embrace the cliche, make it your own.
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Daniel Yamshon
Nov 4, 2007 10:27 PM CST
Please, no more photos of the lawyer standing in front of the book shelf holding an open book. I’ve seen it so many times one would think it was required by statute.
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Peter M. Walzer
Nov 5, 2007 12:59 PM CST
On Walzermelcher.com, we use a spiral staircase. We are divorce lawyers and felt that this symbol represented stepping out of the abyss of problems.
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