If you’ve been anywhere near a television set recently, you’ve seen it. From his perch on a garage wall, a fish sings a song that has become insanely infectious. “Give me back that Filet-o-Fish,” he sings to one sandwich-munching guy while his friend looks on. “If it were you in that sandwich, you wouldn’t be laughing at all,” the creature continues.

The new Filet-o-Fish commercial has been an explosive success for McDonald’s, who timed the ad to coincide with Lent, which accounts for 25% of their fish sandwich sales. If you’ve been lurking under a rock, you can view the ad on YouTube , but you won’t be alone. The clip has now been viewed over one million times. That’s one million people who have voluntarily watched an ad that McDonald’s doesn’t even have to pay to run.

There’s a certain genius to the commercial, which people seem to love or hate. Even the haters are not immune to the message, though, and still report having the song stuck in their heads days after hearing it. While the key to the success of the commercial is partly in the catchy hook of the song, it’s also in its absurdity. Would the song have been as noticed if it hadn’t been sung by a dead fish? It’s doubtful.

Another recent commercial that is currently enjoying success because it so easily sticks in consumers’ heads is the Subway “Five Dollar Footlongs” campaign. In the case of Subway’s campaign, though, there’s something slightly different at work. The song is catchy (though not absurd like a singing fish), and the price cut is also a selling point, but neither factor alone would be good enough to boost sales like this campaign has.

The magic is in the message. Subway didn’t take out ads that announce “For a limited time only, Subway is helping you through the recession by selling all of their tasty footlong sandwiches for only five dollars.” If they had, not nearly as many people would have noticed. The brilliance behind the Subway campaign is in the simplicity of the words: five dollar footlongs. What does Subway have? Five dollar footlongs.

Burger King has a commercial in current rotation that features women with box-shaped rear ends dancing to “Baby’s Got Back,” but with the words “square butts” subbed for “big butts.” It’s almost a shocker on the first viewing, and it’s doubtful that it’s going to become the next stuck-in-your-head sensation. It works fantastically, though, on its first viewing, when the watcher thinks “What the…?” Then, after learning that Burger King is packaging Spongebob Squarepants toys with its meals, all becomes clear.

While each of these commercials is vastly different, they all have something in common that can be an important lesson for those in creative fields. The shared component is: they would all sound stupid on paper. Think about it.

Would you have the guts to propose an ad with a dead fish singing to two silent actors to stop eating him? If a client asked you for some fresh copy for a new sandwich promotion, would you think “Five dollar footlongs” was too simple and instead turn in some overwrought text? And would you ever in a million years have the creative bravery to suggest box-shaped butts?

There’s always a temptation to appeal to the mainstream that is so great that we tend to pitch variations on the same theme again and again. But, what these ads prove is that risk-taking pays off much more than playing it safe. The mainstream is unpredictable. Do you have the guts to pitch against the stream? You’ve got more on the inside than that taxidermized fish has. Use it!

by Elizabeth Kelly

What are the strangest ads you’ve seen that actually worked? Share your thoughts with Oozil.

Most of us are savvy enough to spot a sleazeball. He may be a guy at the bar telling you a story that is obviously being made up on the spot. Or, he might be a used car salesman whose slimy voice and seedy sports coat make you think twice. She might even be a clerk that you can tell is just trying to make a sale when she tells you, “That outfit looks spectacular on you.” All three are liars of different degrees, and all three want something out of you, whether it’s a free beer or a nice commission.

Internet scam artists have an advantage over these easy-to-spot hucksters. We can’t see them or hear them, so our usual methods of detecting sincerity don’t hold up. We can’t check for eye contact or tone of voice. We can’t observe that the guy who claims he can help you make $100,000 a year is wearing a $40 suit and has a prison tattoo…on his face.

With more and more copywriters working from home, either to pursue a freelance career or due to layoffs in a suffering economy, they are especially ripe targets for Internet scam artists. There are good opportunities available on the web, so you don’t want to stop surfing for gigs altogether. You just need to know what the warning signs are. Any one of the following should send up a red flag, the virtual equivalent of a cheap toupee and a “Wanna buy a watch?” voice.

• No Community. The best websites with real opportunities for freelancers give a voice to their workers. If a site doesn’t provide any way for members to communicate with each other, or at the very least to leave public comments to the site administrators themselves, you should approach with caution. Any site that truly cares about its talent wants to hear what they have to say. They should also have easy-to-find contact information in case you have a problem.

• Must Pay Up Front…With or Without Results. The number of sites that help match clients with freelancers is climbing, but a large number of them make their money by charging the writers for using the service. The charge stands whether you sell any work or not. Stick with a company that only takes a fee if you actually make money. (For those who work at home, the charge is usually considerably less than you would end up paying for gas, meals and appropriate clothing if you worked in an office.)

• Exaggerated Claims. “Live the life of luxury. Make 75k a year.” Ads that promise a specific amount of income, or a guarantee of wildly-exaggerated success of any kind, are pulling your leg. Period. The world’s most prestigious universities don’t promise jobs or income amounts to their students. No product, site, seminar or company can or should make grand promises of success. With the right site, hard work can pay off, but no one hands out money on a silver platter.

• Poor Writing. “Learn how you’re copy can make you a milionere.” If you spot rampant errors in an ad or a website’s copy, in a word: run. If you can do a better job then they can, you don’t need them. In fact, they should hire you to write their ads. (Send them a quote; see how it turns out!) Be lenient, however, when it comes to your individual clients. Their lack of language skills is why they need you.

Do you have your own stories of freelance scams or web writing horror stories? Share them here. The more we spread the word and share information, the better a marketplace we create for ourselves and fellow copywriters. Information is the best way to rid the net of rats. Let’s fumigate!

by Elizabeth Kelly