Society

Attorney TV advertising has long been a subject of controversy, and not without reason. The rationale goes that TV advertising threatens the credibility of the entire legal profession, and with all the terrible law firm ads making the rounds on the Internet these days, it’s hard to argue the point. TV advertising still reigns supreme as the king of advertising media, but attorney TV advertising seems like a curious mismatch: two great tastes that adamantly refuse to go great together. Is it truly a lost cause? Is there no way for legal professionals to advertise on television without making yet another lawyer joke? As it happens, there is indeed a way – and it’s so far removed from the usual methodology behind TV advertising that it’s no wonder why so many law firms still get it wrong. Advertising is normally a no-holds-barred grudge match for the audience’s attention, waged against all the other commercials advertising the same thing – and the flashiest, funniest, or cleverest...