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28 years in and it's the worst I've ever seen. It's not an optimal outlook for anyone starting out. And it's even more bleak for everyone once they hit 40. Pay doesn't increase with cost of living upticks. We're overworked and see our colleagues get the axe daily while the C-suite get rewarded with bigger bonuses in their ivory towers. I know a lot of marriages that crumbled because of this job. I know someone who joked about having two "ad widows" while complaining that he'll never find someone that can put up with our work/life imbalance. It's depressing to see the same people fail up while great quality employees get the chop because they're more expensive than two fresh graduates. I wish I had never gotten into this industry or at least left it 15 years ago.
So glad I left
Finishing up a website for my small agency. No idea if we can continue to generate cash flow but I had to freshen up the site. We have to educate ourselves about AI whether we want to or not. My web guy is all about it. There’s no way the work won’t be “less than” if we lean too hard on it. It’s so weird to consider letting quality and creativity take a backseat. Advertising has been my life for so long. All I’ve ever done is try to create the absolute best product possible with whatever budget they hand me. It’s all upside down now.
Worse, you used to come in and there’d be a fresh Dilbert comic taped to the fridge and you’d laugh and laugh and then it would be lunch.
🤣🤣🤣
Worst I’ve ever seen it, both from an employment / vibes standpoint and from a quality of work one. Rough sledding. Makes me sad.
It’s so bad I left it. I check in here to Fishbowl to remind myself why I left, in case I ever get nostalgic. I think the industry officially died around 15 years ago, once Google/YouTube and Facebook owned two-thirds of the planet’s media. It’s impossible to compete with that.
Seriously. Fingers crossed for you. I’m trying to figure out where to jump next.
Rising Star
19 years in and significantly worse than it used to be, with very few improvements. I’m also in the group looking for a new job outside of this industry.
- timelines are insane, they were never this insane in the past
- budgets are tighter
- clients are dumber: less savvy yet more arrogant
- there are significantly fewer good account people. These days seemingly no one can write a good brief or exhibit value beyond, “is it ready to send to the client yet?”
- Everyone thinks AI is better than it is
- salaries are not what they used to be and jobs are less available as they used to be
- there are more channels to understand nuances for
Rising Star
“Significantly fewer” =/= nonexistent.
Advertising’s best era covered about 40 years: 1960–2000. The peak was the 1980s where ads still had jingles. 1990s was still going strong, but then the 2000s gave us digital and the Great Recession which was a one-two knockout (twisting clients’ arms to buy cheap hyper-targeted ads, and then a reason to be cheap happened). The 2010s is when Google and Facebook undercut our media and stole our business.
Books like “Hey Whipple” literally refer to ads made during the good times (even the title is based on a campaign from the mid-1960s through the 1980s).
Planners (“Strategists”) use “Got Milk” as their golden example. It’s from over 30 years ago.
Those times are gone, they are never coming back.
Sad cuz 2000s is why I dreamed of getting into this industry as a kid. And now it’s nothing like the 2000s
15 years - better in some, worse in others.
Worse -
Budgets suck
Clients keep overestimating what AI can do
Timelines suck
Companies always need to find new ways to make money so a lot of the job perks have gone away.
No offices and everyone has to sit in sharespace
Better -
Fun new tools to play around with
Can work from home when needed
After me-too and some of the crazy work events going away, I have been asked WAY less for drugs and hookers in the last 5-10 years which I prefer.
Come on.
Are you new here?
It’s over.
Way worse. I’m 40 and have been in the industry for 21 years. I’m looking for an exit and hoping to be completely out in the next 2-3 years.
Same
Worse in many ways, have seem too many disqualified people getting promoted too quickly, after literally 2 projects… senior titles. Agency cultures are so artificial, not genuine; You can get canceled if you don’t sing the same tunes. Too many partners and pseudo VPs…..too many chefs in the hell kitchen. Forget it if you want a real brief, it gets changed every week. Seems like they care more about their PR and awards more than your mental health!
Chief
Better as I can work from home two days a week. Worse as I Saturday and Sunday can't be one of those two days.
Hasn’t it gotten worse for everyone? I feel like it’s the sign of the times. Everyday consumers don’t have money, brands aren’t making money (especially with rising production and tariffs), and yeah, advertisers are getting impacted. Good news is we’re not alone.
Rising Star
Everyone except the corporations and holding companies. All I hear about is “record profits.”
Advertising today is better at driving results and worse at meaning anything. We’ve traded cultural relevance for optimization.
Yes, of course it’s about selling things. But selling is a short and long term game. Too much focus on short and you won’t make it long.
Better in some ways, worse in others.
For me wfh. I work much less than pre covid where there was 0 worklife balance. Which has caused me to shift personally from an employee to a person with providing a service. And I don't really care about agency culture because it was sorta toxic before.
What about the Mom's that wanna finally get back to work,after 18 yrs of a stay @ home mom? This whole "AI" World she is now going into? She has returned to school before Work...
Let's face it, all companies now a days wanna see some AI Certificate or Degree....
I think AI IS GOING TO TAKE OVER, honestly is a Lil scary
Worse :(
😂