Gen X Pastor Ruins “The Office” (and Your Copy)

So I attended a wedding over the weekend.

It took place at a beautiful venue in Washington state, surrounded by rolling green hills and high cliffs and punctuated by puffy cumulonimbus clouds.

It was a truly beautiful … but rather uneventful … experience.

Except for one thing.

It was the pastor who married the couple.

And something he said that I found so hilarious that I had to share it with you.

Now, if you’re on my list and if you paid ANY attention to my opt-in page, you know I am a huge fan of the Office.

Seriously, for like 3 years I had it on constantly in the background in my apartment while I was working.

So the ceremony started off in the usual way.

The “meaning of true love” and stories about the couple.

But then, the pastor shifted the conversation to a pop culture reference about the Office.

Something about how the couple was, in all likelihood, going to spend many nights together binge-watching reruns with the infamous — and this is where I lost it — “Peter” Scott.

PETER Scott.

No, no. Not Michael.

Peter.

Obviously, this pastor was just trying to stay “hip” for the crowd and had never actually watched the damn show.

And apparently, he got his biblical references mixed up with his pop culture references.

I thought it was hilarious.

But it also reminded of how out of touch some copywriters can be.

Especially when they don’t do the proper research on a market before writing copy.

The worst part is that most of the crowd consisted of millennials who IMMEDIATELY knew that this guy had gotten his references messed up.

Imagine if you were writing copy for a market full of the Office experts.

Or — even worse — imagine if you were writing copy for a client, and you botched a detail like this.

Seemingly minor, sure.

But this mistake would immediately cause your copy to lost all credibility.

And could even cause your client to question your credibility, too.

My suggestion if you don’t want to run into this issue is simple.

Do NOT skimp on researching your market.

Use whatever means you need to understand the market: Reddit, Amazon reviews, YouTube comments.

Doesn’t matter. Just figure out what the market cares about and how they talk about it.

Because in my opinion, research is the most important aspect of any copywriting job or project.

Doing the proper research allows you to discover exactly what language the market uses, what they actually care about, and what problems they actually have.

If you want to learn how YOU can save yourself from being just as bad as a Gen X pastor trying desperately to relate to a bunch of millennials when it comes to your copy, sign up for my daily emails below.

David Patrick