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No way they shouldn’t put the spots on their sites or social channels. That’s super lame.
@senior strategist I agree with you that these elements help the ad actually work and sell things. I don’t think anyone is arguing against that. But as creatives we sell ourselves and build our careers based on what we produce, not if the campaigns actually work. Taking credit for other people’s work is rampant among creatives and it can hurt the person actually responsible for the work in finding a job. If a hiring CD sees the same piece in several books it puts into question who actually did it and undermines their credibility. It also is unethical in my opinion to sell yourself under false pretenses.
Don’t let it bother you. I’ve been on the opposite end where I spent countless nights concepting and writing scripts only to get barred by the ACDs I was under at every turn. I stuck with it and not only did I over see edits while an ACD was out, but some of my lines eventually made it to the final spot. That being said, THEY never credited me. Clearly the JRs who are taking credit felt some ownership of the project. Why let this upset you? I’ve had juniors take credit for work I came up with. Hope it helps them in the future. I think the best ACDs nurture young talent, not get butt hurt when they’re proud of a project they worked on with you...
I agree with a lot of this. I’ve definitely been on both sides of this, and in my later career I’ve been a voice in hiring people who had work in their book that turned out to be a bit of an overstatement of their involvement. But they didn’t last long. Because they weren’t smart enough to steal smartly.
Did they work on social delivery or placement? Did they create alt formats of the work for social? Did they do anything that put the work onto more real estate than a few preroll spots on Hulu & YouTube, a month or two of TVC (which is getting more antiquated every day) and/or some OOH placements in like 3 cities?
If yes to any of those questions I'd say it's fine for them to claim credit as long as they're clear about their roles in the write-ups on their sites and in future conversations. They may not have done the concepting, writing and production of the full spot itself but if they had a hand in how it was delivered and in who saw it (and HOW people saw it) in the long and short term then they should get credit.
If you really think that all there is to advertising these days is concepting, script/super writing and production then I'm sorry buddy...lol that's literally not enough for an ad to "work" these days.
I don’t think OP’s post had anything to do with what’s enough to make an ad “work” these days.
Did they credit you as ACD? I think if they did that, anybody looking at their book would know they were a part of the effort to create the work. I'm also assuming the jr team would talk about what role they played and not take credit for the whole enchilada.
I think OP is reacting to the creative and not the execution. And I think it's shitty. I look at books all the time and see very junior creatives with huge campaigns for luxury/big brands. I don't buy it and I hope others don't either.
If they're credited in the pubs it's not a big deal. But if those creatives have your produced work in their book and they're being dishonest and over stating their roles on the project then yeah, it's not cool at all. For example if they made the social posts but intentionally make it appear that they made the TV as well.
Are you listed on the agency credits?
I think it happens a lot, unfortunately. It’s annoying for sure, but my advice would be to be generous and try and let it go. Bringing it up to them or your bosses will just make you seem petty. As long as you’re listed on official credits, you’re good. You know who did the work, and if they’re frauds, they’ll be exposed eventually.
A lot of juniors think if they touch something, they created it. Even if they had nothing to do with the idea or you had to rewrite/handhold the whole thing. As a director, it’s your job to guide them and help them eventually do it all without your help. Sucks that the agency didn’t give you credit for your role. That is who should acknowledge your work.