Wow, our job is so easy!

(click title)
Why don't we all do this? Repeat our boring message thrice and slap on some gratuitous animation. Done. Go watch a movie. Recall shoots up. Sales are off the chart. If you're too lazy to click the link, this is about the hypnotic commercial for Head-on (a headache remedy) that simply states, "Head-on, apply directly to the forehead. Head-on, apply directly to the forehead. Head-on, apply directly to the forehead" in an almost pleasant, robotic female voice.

This brings up the struggle between art and business in advertising. Results vs. random creative. We are in the business of selling things. But sometimes you wonder if the creatives had a business goal in mind or an inside joke they wanted displayed on national tv. Some brands are so boring that any random story you can attach to them will help its cause, but it is really relevant? Or is it just relevant because the story and product shot run in close proximity to one another? As always there are extremes. Creative where you cannot possibly make any sort of connection to the product and creative that is obviously "pecked to death by ducks," meaning consumer tested and had the creative soul sucked out in favor of a banal study stating "headlines with 10 words sell more than short headlines."
I think testing creative is a terrible idea. They will say what they're supposed to say. That's why planning and strategy are difficult, everyone has a communcation problem. No one ever says what they really mean. Sometimes it's a matter of keeping up a societal norm, sometimes people have no idea what they're really thinking and fail to pinpoint any kind of relevant thought. Really great creative tells you something in an interesting way that you knew all along, but have never been able to verbalize. Or it gives you the gift of a completely new idea that you never would have thought of. Either way, that kind of creative is not created in a focus group.

Ad pollution

Click on title.

Is it bad that I often side with Adbusters over AdAge? That I think a lot of guerilla and outdoor is cause for self-inflicted retinal damage? Maybe it's because 90% of the stuff that's screaming in our faces is non-sensical, annoying, and uninteresting. But advertising is so subjective that maybe I'm completely wrong.
Although, I doubt any consumer enjoys the visual raping at the hands of advertising they get every time they step into a public space (or sometimes private for that matter.)
The suggestion of having a career full of forced compromise and average work makes me cringe. One of the most valuable parts of this internship experience is getting a glimpse into the way things really work. At school we have this idealized world where we can do whatever we want. Damn the client, damn the media costs, the account ppl, fear, or any real restrictions. Being fortunate enough to get a taste of many different projects we've gotten to see how the client, existing campaigns, money, conflicting points of view, and anything and everything else can severely injure creative work. That's reality and our challenge. One of my biggest fear is contributing to the mountains of shitty advertising and not being allowed to say anything worthwhile. If it was easy everyone would do it, but I don't believe it really has to be this difficult.
Everyone is always talking about collaboration and the free marketplace of ideas. Good idea, poor execution. I've heard of media companies placing ads they haven't even seen. What is the point?! Yes, I'm being young and idealistic, but isn't that just common sense. How do these oversights happen on a daily basis?
Ugh, every time we are completely horrified by something, (i.e. the client actually rewriting the ads themselves, 19 and counting different versions of the simplest ad (many times being changed back into previous versions), miscommunication, etc.) our mentors tell us "welcome to advertising."
How long can we hang on to that horrified feeling, the feeling that viscerally we know that's not the way it should work, that we can do better, that the client deserves better? Or will we be strong-armed into being disgruntled graying cynics?

god damn it, japan, way to peretuate the idea that asians are frickin weirdos

click link. i really cannot fathom any sort of explanation, so please no questions.

real people don't care about wieden

Following up on the last post. I think most of us ad people have an awful habit of relating every topic to advertising. People outside of advertising have begun to fear us. I am reluctantly to expose my other friends to advertising people, knowing full well that 95% of the conversation will revolve around who won what account, the demise of the :60 second spot, and what kind of crazy shit you're coming up with. Get a life. Live outside advertising. And of course, myself included.

who said that?

How many people really truly know who they are? I'll admit, I'm getting a sense of it, but I know I don't REALLY know. When you finally figure it out you've got a foot and half your torso in the grave. That's just the way it works. Is anyone completely themselves at all times? Very few. When you think you know, just wait a few years and your present self will look back and call your past self an asshole. It's perpetual. I admire those few people that can be themselves all the time and not give a shit what people think. But sometimes, those are the people the rest of call jerk-offs and pricks. But they don't care anyway, so good for them, I guess. And too bad for those of us that are jealous of their ability to shun societal acceptance. But there is a difference between being yourself and just having no filter. Or is there? If to be yourself is not to censor yourself then I suppose being a filterless freak is the epitome of self-realization.
OK, let's bring this back to Earth. So there are these thought boards for Suave. The theme is perceptions of women and their view of beauty. Of course, everyone gives these idealized answers. "ALL women are beautiful." "...a woman is beautiful when she is herself..." Yes, yes, deep down I know a lot of people believe that. But how many people act in a way that coincides with that philosophy?
Which brings us to advertising, as always. It is a terrible habit, bringing everything back to advertising. That's a whole other post. But there is a great podcast called "American Copywriter," which discussed how important it is to "be you more" in advertising. How it is so easy to compromise your beliefs and defer to the business. And this next thought is from Jim Henson. Sometimes you have to compromise your art for business, but at the end of the day the business is allowing you to share your art with more people. In fact, it allows us to continue making the art. Rather than be starving artists and writers. Advertising is our bullhorn. And yes, we complain about the client and being put in little boxes and being whores to commercialism. But at the end of the day, I love this job. We all do. Unfortunately.

"please believe me! motherfucka, i'll kill you, i didn't touch that bitch! "

Linguists have named fill-in-the-blank idioms, such as "The first rule of X club is you do not talk about X club." They call it the snowclone. But is it laziness or cultural literacy? Lazy in that you're simply mad-libbing your own context into the skeleton of an established joke. Or repeating quotes. Is it being intellectually dishonest in humor? You're pushing someone into the piranha tank and then jumping in when they discover they're Swedish fish. It's safe. You know you'll get a laugh out of a movie quote or comedian's work. However, I will say that who doesn't enjoy a well placed movie quote or a new twist on an obscure reference. Everyone does it. People like it. Is it so bad? Is the craftsmanship in your interpretation of the comment? Timing? Situation? And understanding the reference is a little wink nudge to pop culture and being culturally literate. There's an immediate bond between the people that get it. It's the basis of most of the humor on Family Guy or the Simpsons. Crazy, I know. Crazy like a fox.

way to make a name for yourself

Here is a great ad D'Amico found. Look at the ad, study the craftsmanship. Then look at the very last line. Then look at the pictures in the background. There's TP if you look hard.

you magnificent bastard

click on title. Wow. No words.

kind of completely awesome

everyone loves monkeys!