Don Kowalewski
Writer. Ad Sales and Marketing. Social Media Content Creator. Aeropress Coffee. Makes the best salsa in the world.
Commercial Critique: Discover Card
I’m a stickler for a good commercial. I overanalyze commercials. Probably because I consider myself part of the “advertising community”. The latest commercial I’ve noticed is from Discover Card and features Matt Leinart. In this ad, a guy (a Dad/dude) notices he’s standing next to Matt Leinart and then notices they both are using a Discover Card. The guy calls “twinsies” and embarrasses himself in a series of Matt Leinart run-ins. Fairly ridiculous, but “ridiculous” can be good in a commercial. However, I think this commercial was trying to be clever and funny instead of “ridiculous.”
This Discover Card commercial is good because I noticed it and remembered it. Points for that. This commercial is bad because of a plot device used to have the Dad/dude notice Matt Leinart and Matt Leinart’s Discover Card.
The dude’s pre-teen (or teenaged) daughter notices and points out Matt Leinart. Read More
Give to Caesar What is Caesar’s
If you were giving me a letter grade on my understanding, reading, and quoting of The Bible, I’m probably a C+ student at best. In fact, when it comes to paying attention in Church, I probably deserve a C there, too.
But when I pay attention, I really pay attention and there’s a Gospel I like and think about often. It’s a great lesson in time management and how you spend your time. Which I know is not Jesus’ intended message, but let me explain.
In Matthew 22:21, the Pharisees asked Jesus what they thought was a trick question or, as we say these days, a “gotcha moment.” They asked Jesus if it was OK to pay taxes to Caesar and waited for him to say “yes” or “no.” If Jesus said “yes”, they’d say he wasn’t loyal to his fellow Jewish people and he’d start to lose his followers. And if he said “no” then they could show him as treasonous against Rome. Read More
My Wife Won Christmas 2024 – And I’m Officially Surrendering
They key to a happy marriage is having an intense rivalry with your spouse. Happy couples should always be tracking who does more around the house, who garners more love and admiration from their children, and other markers like “who remembers more things” and “who had a higher ACT score back in 1990” (for what it’s worth, it was me in the context of my marriage).
Kathy and I have each been in the winner’s circle on various things, and one of our biggest battles is the one-upmanship of who “wins Christmas” or who “wins Mother’s Day/Father’s Day”. But mostly it’s about who “wins Christmas.”
The problem is, Kathy is an incredible gift-giver. She listens. She watches. And she hasn’t bought something from my Stuff I Want List in years. She doesn’t need a list. Kathy has her own ideas and she absolutely nails it every time. She has, like, a 100% success rate. I can’t remember a gift from Kathy that I didn’t like or that I wanted to exchange or return. She’s really good at it. Read More
The 2024 Christmas Card Letter
I love getting Christmas cards.
I appreciate the generic. It’s nice to know someone thinks enough of me to address an envelope and write a little something, even if just “Miss you” or “Let’s get together in the new year.”
I really like cards with pictures of my friends and family. It means they poured over photos that represent a near-perfect moment from the past year, and then also that I mean enough to that person that they sent me a card.
Extra points if the cards are addressed by hand.
But I love, love a good Christmas card letter. Always have. Done correctly, the Christmas card letter is like a mini newsletter updating me on everything with the sender’s family and their year. It was Facebook before there was Facebook. Read More
Announcing My 2025 Goals
I love New Year’s Resolutions, fresh starts, resets, lists, and especially To-Do Lists. I like writing things down (or Blogging about them, same dif’) because it helps me remember. Readers know I use Cal Newport’s Time-Block Planning each day, giving each minute of each day a task and activity. I plan weekends with a list chores, tasks, and To-Do’s to maximize my weekend. I find weekends are more fulfilling when I get to Sunday night and can look back on very specific things I got done.
For me, each year is a fresh start. A chance to review the previous year. Course correct. Change my mind on things. Double down on other things. And make new goals. Even if I accomplish 50%, it will be a fantastic year working on these things.
MY METHOD
Each day, I look at the list at least once. Looking keeps things top-of-mind. I find looking at it daily helps make it stick and lock it into my brain. Read More
Dishwasher: Choose Clean Over Beauty and Longevity
I have this dream that someday, someone is going to set out to build the perfect dishwasher and they’ll send letters and notices to every town and village, and they’ll nail a poster to the front door of town hall saying, “wanted …citizens to volunteer to help build the greatest dishwasher ever built” and crowds will gather and read it, a murmur will begin among the gathered crowds, and I’ll push by everyone, demanding to see what the ruckus is about, My eyes will open wide and my jaw will drop and a small child in the crowd will point at me and exclaim, “Him! He can do it.” For in this village, it is known to all, that I have been busy in my workshop scribbling ideas and designs for a dishwasher that will clean everything every time and will last for decades. A dishwasher that a proud man can leave to his children in his will, and they to their children. I’d rip the flyer from the bulletin board and run home, throw open the door to my home and say to my family, “I must go. My nation needs me. I will help end this vicious cycle of good-enough dishwashers designed to only last for so long and none designed to actually clean dishes,” and my wife will cry, knowing I’m going away, and my kids will beam with pride because their Dad is going to make a difference in the world. And off I would go. Read More
Work-Life Imbalance: A Day in the Life of a Sports Talk and Sports Podcast Listener
Full disclosure (and why I call this the Work-Life Imbalance) …I work for Audacy. I create and sell Sports Partnerships. My business card says “Director of Sports Partnerships.” But that’s not by coincidence. I have this job because this job combines what I’ve been doing for 25+ years and my passions – sports, Sports-Talk Radio, and Sports Podcasts.
Audacy (again, the company I work for) recently conducted a Sports, Sports Fan, Sports Talk listening study. It tells a great story and gives lots of facts and figures about what marketers need to know about sports fans, but I want to quick explain, if you’re a brand, how you reach a guy like me.
I WATCH SPORTS
Yes. I watch sports. I love sports. I’ll never miss a Michigan State football or basketball game. I’ll never miss a Lions game. If cable TV and the Pistons, Red Wings, and Tigers could get along, I would always have those games on, even if in the background. I watch some Premier League soccer. I’ll watch the NFL on Monday, Thursday, all day Sunday and Sunday evening and I’ll watch college football from sun-up (starting with ESPN’s “College Gameday”) until sundown. Read More
A Mnew Mnemonic: Phone on Four for Four
If you ask some people, they’ll say I’m forgetful. It’s not true. My problem is, when people are talking to me, sometimes I’m not listening intently. That’s a bad habit and I’m working on it. When I want to remember things and work at it (ie pay attention), I remember stuff. That’s the key …working at it.
To remember names, I need to employ all the tricks like immediately saying the name back to the person, using that name three times as quickly as possible, and creating some sorta feature association …like Bald Bill or Smiling Steve. Or assign the person to a room somewhere I’m familiar with …like putting a Pete with all the other Pete’s I know in “the pantry” or if I meet a Mike, put Mike with the other Mikes in the “mail room.”
But the memory technique I’m most proud of is my use of mnemonics. It’s something I invented and combines Atomic Habits, Getting Things Done, and more. I have a bunch of them and I’m always inventing new mnemonics to help me always remember what I want to remember and do. Read More
MY CHRISTMAS WISH-LIST (2025)
One of the most popular features of my Blog is my “Stuff I Want” list – an ongoing list of things I would love to have but I don’t buy for myself, allowing readers and fans to buy them for me and enjoy the “feels” that come with giving to others (others = me). Plus, it’s Thanksgiving week and it seems like as good a time as any to revamp my list and redefine the “why” and “what” around people giving me things.
My “Stuff I Want” list is also my attempt to become a micro-influencer and someday get some of that sweet, sweet influencer money from promoting, endorsing, and making videos about products I use and like. I don’t get boxes of stuff sent to me (yet), but maybe someday. And I don’t have a focused category like guys on YouTube that review home stereo stuff, lawn mowers, or camping gear. Instead, I do the research and come up with a top-2 or top-3.
The list is also for my wife. She loves knowing exactly what I want for the three annual Don gift-receiving events – Father’s Day, my birthday, and Christmas. Read More
Tyson v. Jake Paul v. Nostalgia
Lots of people called Friday night’s Tyson v. Jake Paul boxing match a disaster. A sham. A scam. A debacle. They’re yelling it was fixed and that it was a complete waste of time.
I loved every minute of it. I loved the hype leading up to it. I loved the undercards. I loved the freezing Netflix (OK, I actually didn’t like that). I loved it all. It reminded me of everything we all used to love and hate about boxing.
It reminded me of my Grandpa. It created a reunion on my phone on Friday night. More on these in a minute.
How Big Was It?
Netflix says, when the fight started, as many as 64-million Netflix accounts were LIVE-streaming the fight which equates to about 100-million total viewers when you factor in people gathered together watching in living rooms and bars. Read More
Don Kowalewski 