When we were in London the other day we popped by the ‘activation unit’ of a large ad agency and met the MD who told us that an activation unit did all this ‘fun’ stuff such as chalking pavements, flyposting, ambient media and raiding live radio shows. When we suggested that there was a concern by people about urban spam he replied that as long as his work was entertaining then people would like it and that the sort of advertising these people were complaining about happened 5 years ago.
For a brief moment, the discussion left us wondering whether it was us who were out-of-date when we criticized the advertising sector for all the landfill they spat at us… maybe advertising was the world’s new entertainment?? Thank goodness we came across a piece on CNN’s Stanley Bing blog that put us yanked to reality by reminding us about the world’s current opinion on advertising people:
Advertising executive
Create perceived need/value for inherently generic or worthless products
$$: Ground-level workers with writing ability move quickly to the top, immediately snagging low to mid-six figures; those who can spin mythological concepts surrounding quotidian household objects can command up to seven figures.
The upside: Great expense account living, see your handiwork everywhere, the wonderful feeling of being creative and corporate at the same time.
The downside: Must take meetings with the AFLAC duck.
The dark side: You’re considered a dinosaur at forty.
[kudos to AdLand for the link]
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