So what about the extreme camps that exist in advertising? The first camp is one that most, if not all, of the people reading this blogtacular prose will readily decry – a group I collectively label The Hacks.
You know The Hacks. They’re the people that keep using stock photos of men shaking hands and men pointing at computer screens and men standing around with a look of unspecified concern. Many Hacks can be found in agencies with names like Awesome Advertising Concepts, SuperPostcards+ and Deutsch. The Hack believes that advertising is a science. A science best practiced through direct mail or, as they call it, The Direct Response Paradigm. They have a euphemistic name for everything. They don’t mail things in boxes or tubes. The send them in Dimensional Mailers. A postcard is a Business Reply Card – the dreaded BRC. And they have rules aplenty. Always use an odd number of bullet points. Always use a lot of bullet points. Oversized postcards really stand out even though everyone else is using an oversized postcard. Put the same message on both sides of the Self-Mailing Oversized Post Message Delivery Unit just in case the spammee doesn’t flip the card over. Even though no one in the history of everything has ever not flipped a postcard over. The Hacks know what they’re doing, dang it. And it doesn’t matter what your brand stands for or to whom you’re advertising – if you want to sell something, they’ve got a formula to do it.
You hate The Hacks. I hate The Hacks. If we have a department of Hacks in our office, we often argue with them. Hacks give the rest of us the stench of hucksterism. And if I’m going to stink, I prefer my own natural musk. It’s kind of like creamed corn. You’d love it.
At the other side of the scale is a group that doesn’t get its nose tweaked very often. A group that is generally praised and even worshipped in the Halls of Advertising. They are The Artistes. Artistes believe that advertising is not just an art form, it’s *the* fine art form of the 21st century. Tapping into the zeitgeist. Altering the zeitgeist. Excessively using the term “zeitgeist.” The Artistes worship at the Alter of Bogusky, even if he thinks they’re all wankers. They wonder – out loud – why Spielberg hasn’t tapped them to pen the next Indiana Jones after seeing their wicked awesome Downy Dryer Ball spot. The Artistes believe in Advertising for the sake of Advertising. A cool ad is a cool ad, so what if no one remembers whom it was for.
The Artistes bug me almost as much as The Hacks. Almost. But I believe it’s easier to knock an Artiste down to the reality of being real advertising creative artist than it is to pull a Hack out the swamp of one-percent response rates (score!). An Artiste usually has a bit of talent whereas a Hack, well, is a hack. Nonetheless, both groups need to be kicked in the head a bit. The Hacks, just because. It won’t help, but it feels good. The Artistes need to be reminded that advertising is not the be-all-end-all of artistic endeavors. Most people, when asked, will not tell you that “1984” is the best commercial ever produced.
They’ll probably stick out their tongue and say, “Whassup?!” And telling them that that is so 2000 is not going to help. There’s a reason we have to give ourselves so many awards. And it’s not because we’re all so flippin’ sweet. So chill out, Chachi.
Make it cool. Make it work. Go home.
Later,
Fox
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