Marla Cooper

My Ongoing Beef with the Talking Bee

Yesterday morning, I got mad at a talking cartoon bee.  I went to the kitchen and opened up the cabinet, and there he was, mocking me.

Hear me out. 

My first career was in advertising. For seven years, I worked as a copywriter at an advertising agency and got to work on campaigns for all sorts of amazing, big-name clients. After that, I freelanced in San Francisco for a whole new batch of amazing clients. 

One day, a friend of mine called. He was working in New York at Saatchi & Saatchi — a Very Big Deal in the world of advertising. They were looking for a copywriter to work on the Cheerios account. More specifically, they wanted someone who could write TV spots featuring BuzzBee, the apian mascot for Honey Nut Cheerios.

The Debate

Now, let me say up front: Writing for the talking bee was not Plan A. 

Ads with spokesmen were considered outdated verging on hacky — all the worse if the spokesman talked in a high-pitched cartoon voice.

But man, working at a world-renowned ad agency in Manhattan? That was definitely on my career bucket list. 

So I got my portfolio ready, sent it to the creative director, and started dreaming of a future where I would have a much smaller apartment with no closet space and no driveway to park in. But that wouldn’t matter, because I would walk to work, have lunch at a nearby grab-and-go, meet my coworkers for happy hour, and see Broadway plays in my spare time.

The Death of the Dream 

A week or so later, my friend called with the bad news. Apparently, my television reel wasn’t strong enough. I had worked on TV, but I guess my reel wasn’t quite the animated-insect, cereal-spokesman caliber. 

My husband and I had a good laugh — “They don’t think I’m qualified to write for a talking bee!!”— and I put my dreams of being a Manhattan advertising genius to bed.

Which brings me to yesterday. 

While filling my red Fiestaware bowl with Honey Nut Cheerios, I said to my husband, “Remember the time I couldn’t get hired to write for a talking bee?” Then we both had a good laugh.

I’m not really mad about it. After all, if I’d moved to New York, I never would’ve ended up writing cozy mysteries. Staying in San Francisco was an essential part of that story. But it’s fun to have a cartoon nemesis, nonetheless.

The Redemption

A couple of hours later, I was at my computer. Hubs walked into the room with a twinkle in his eye, and said, “If I ask you to do something, will you just say yes and do it? I want you to ask ChatGPT to evaluate, based on everything it knows about you, if you’re a good enough writer to write for a talking bee.” Of course, I said yes:

It went on to say:

“In fact, you might be dangerously well suited. You’d bring charm, wit, warmth, a bit of sass, a sense of timing, and a layered kind of humor that works for both kids and adults. And your long experience writing both dialogue (from your fiction and scripts) and punchy, engaging copy (from your marketing work) is exactly the skillset that animated talking bees require. Honestly, you might be overqualified. The bee would be lucky to have you.“

Take that, Buzzbee.

Marla, not thinking about the bee at all.

Marla Cooper is the author of the soon-to-be-relaunched Kelsey McKenna Destination Wedding Mysteries.

Readers, have you ever had a pretend nemesis? Where do you stand on talking bees?

37 thoughts on “My Ongoing Beef with the Talking Bee”

  1. As I sit here eating my Honey Nut Cheerios…talking bees don’t bother me as long as they are animated. I can not be near a flying bee that could sting me.

    My pretend nemesis would be all the people who said “I couldn’t” and yet here I’m standing as a retired worker who is starting a new chapter in my life.

    Where are those who said I couldn’t, some are not living on this earth, some are saddled with drug addiction, some are down in the dump, so yes, I could and I did.

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  2. Marla,

    This is fabulous. It is an inspiring post for me, as I am currently battling my nemesis.

    No, it’s not a cartoon character. It’s not a television character. It’s not a real character. It’s my self confidence. No, wait, that is an imaginary character.

    I am looking into self publishing the first in my neon desert mystery series. You know, the one I’ve been working on since I first found this blog and met all you wonderful chicks.

    My nemesis sounds a lot like your talking bee. “You aren’t good enough. You can’t handle the job ahead of you. Give up now, before you make a donkey of yourself.” That’s what I hear in my head every day right now.
    Maybe I should talk to ChatGPT and see what it tells me!

    Hestia

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    1. ChatGPT is a great cheerleader. My friend has it give her pep talks in the voice of Mr. Rogers. But I’m also here to tell you, you’re awesome and you can do it! You have a unique combination of creativity and follow-through. And if you ever need a non-ChatGPT pep talk, I’m here for it!

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    3. Hestia, please don’t ever give up. Tough talk: You would look like a bigger donkey if you gave up on yourself. If we don’t believe in ourselves, we’ll never convince others to take a chance on us. We’re rooting for your success. 💕💕💕💕💕

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  3. So fun I remember a jingle on TV that would wake up my Baby every time. It became so irritating that I had to rush to silence the TV when it came on. The odd part was they would play it at night just when the little one was going to sleep. I don’t recall what it was as it was long ago and I remember wondering why they played it when they did. I think it was a conspiracy to keep my child awake. Ha Ha. Deborah

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    1. Oh MAN! That sounds maddening! My mind went to the Baby Back Ribs song because of all that clinking glassware. Whatever it was, I’m glad you were able to forget it!

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  4. Now I want to get you one of those Busy Bee stuffed animals from “Best in Show,” Marla.

    I’ve been a fan of bees ever since I was a kid and my mom bought me a book all about them. (Queen Bee, baby!) And one of my favorite things to do is water my lavender when it’s in full bloom and watch as the bees come to drink the water. Lovely.

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  5. “Dangerously well suited.” That’s high praise!
    As a left-hander, I have lots of enemies, both real and imagined-spiral bound notebooks, scissors, ink pens, standard cork screws…I could go on. I know, minor inconveniences in reality but it’s more fun to think of these annoyances as nemeses like the Legion of Doom!

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    1. “Damn you, right-handed scissors!” Those are all worthwhile nemeses, to be sure. I feel like you could do a whole Saturday morning cartoon around this!

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  7. I’m okay with talking bees, but I have to admit I do not like Honey Nut Cheerios. Pretty fun use of ChatGPT. I should give that a try when I need a boost. Assuming, of course, that ChatGPT likes my writing.

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    1. Chat GPT is programmed to be validating. I have a friend who prompts it thusly: “Give me a pep talk in the style of Mr. Rogers.” I think that’s one of my favorite uses of it! 😄

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    1. Thank you, Patricia! I feel like I got the better end of the bargain. If I had gotten hired, I would never have written a novel. (I would’ve been too busy trying to figure out where to store my shoes in a 318-s.f. apartment!) xoxo

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      2. Well, shoes go out of fashion in a blink and NYC ad people hate that, so you would probably put your shoes out on the stoop of your Carrie Bradshaw brownstone. And then the Sad Little People like me would come and scoop up your thrice-worn Louboutin heels to wear to our trendy-but-impoverished publishing jobs.

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  9. Love the recent boost you got, Marla! My nemesis is along the lines of Hestia’s; can you say imposter syndrome? Anywho, I’m okay with animated talking bees, but I do wonder why so many cartoon animals need clothes and accessories.

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    2. Thanks, Jenn! Speaking of clothes, BuzzBee is doing the Winnie the Pooh thing: wearing a shirt, but no pants. Anyway, Chat GPT and your fellow Chicks are always here for a pep talk!

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  10. Nemesis? Well, Nancy Drew and I had a charged relationship for a while during the time I “helped” her with her cases for my job. I came up with a proposal for a pretty-nifty spin-off series for Bess Marvin, and Nancy had her people let me know the proposal was great but Bess could never be a star. What a mean girl.

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  11. HA! I love this so much!! I’m SO happy that Plan Bee (aka writing for Buzzbee) didn’t work out so that the world could experience your amazing cozies and that our paths could cross. ❤ The copywriter in me celebrates the former copywriter in you for escaping what was surely a sting operation!

    PS Now that so much of my day is spent via video conferencing, I’m thinking of adopting Buzzbee’s uniform myself.

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    1. Kathy! “A sting operation” — yes! Do you find that you talk and think in puns without even realizing it? I do it reflexively now! Thanks for stopping by. XOXOXO

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