Read the intro to this type of work below or head straight to the posts.
As a journalist for more than 20 years, I crafted hundreds it not thousands of headlines, summaries, and “microtexts” for articles, special series, podcast promos, video promos, button labels, navigation labels, social media posts, photo captions, and more. The space and time restraints were beyond intense.
In 2023, I began writing of a much different sort for Meati Foods. Language shifted from a tool to speak truth to power — at core, journalism is a belief that facts and fairness for all should guide our societies rather than the whims, preferences, and delusions of people or collections of people who control our resources — to one meant to engender excitement, curiosity, comfort, and trust about a company, with the underlying intent to create that essential component of a capitalistic survival: a purchase.
Technically speaking, the work was similar. I still had to fit engaging short, medium, and long chunks of text into all manner of spots. That took creativity that felt very close to poem writing. And since I strongly believed in the company’s mission — we really do need to make a more efficient and nutritious food system because the current configuration is simply unsustainable for the populations we are supporting — I was more comfortable letting go of my personal contributions to our collective wrestling with power.
You can view my copywriting at: hellotumo.com/posts/typings/copywriting/