I wish I felt differently

I suppose I left that last post dangling a little. So let me elaborate. I haven’t really lost interest in advertising. But that’s simply because I’ve never been interested in the first place. It’s always been a job. Not a passion.

Now I know many folks in the industry who will say that passion should be our driving force. They will doubtlessly believe wholeheartedly in the power of ideas and their own creativity. They will demand that we constantly push the boundaries. They will proclaim that the metaphoric box is there just so that we can do our thinking outside of it. It’s the usual mumbo-jumbo you see splattered on the pages of Marketing magazine. But seriously now, come off it, why don’t you?

I’ve always wondered how so many smart and hugely creative people could be so enamoured with an industry that’s essentially a pest. A huge wart on the side of this capitalist beast we’ve nurtured. Surely, if you believe so fervently in the power of ideas, you can do better than to use these amazingly powerful tools to sell washing powder. And what about all this pushing of boundaries? The boundaries of what? Creativity? What does that even mean?

And by the way, who cares?

We in the advertising business are just so full of ourselves. We’ve got all our cosy award shows. A gazillion websites filled with ads for the world to marvel at which we then, almost always, proceed to massacre with a juvenile fervour that I am truly ashamed of. We buy and read endless books about our own industry legends, aspiring to be like them while simultaneously hating their guts for profiting from their peers.

Yet all this gloss does nothing to hide our niggling insecurities. The truth is no one outside of advertising gives two hoots about what we do because, in the larger scheme of things, advertising doesn’t come anywhere near the top. Or even the middle. We’re just the shit that’s settled at the bottom of the bowl. And we’re making hell of a din about it.