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Good news is that the actual impact we have is close to none these days.
Rising Star
Most of we do is completely ignored and forgotten instantly if anyone is actually paying attention. Our impact is nothing compared to the harm done by politicians and governmental institutions. Social media, not the obvious ad and influencer partnerships, is way more impactful and dangerous than anything we do.
Chief
“All ads create suffering” 😂
You’re taking advertising way too seriously, SC1. As serious as CCO’s who talk about ‘bravery’ and other buzzwords. The extremes meet. 🤝
Rising Star
We are Schrödinger’s creatives. Nobody cares about what we do and all we do is ignored by the “skip” button, or by going to take a leak during a commercial break, but somehow at the same time we are also responsible for every evil the world has ever known, and for inflicting capitalism’s wrath on humankind.
The short answer, a lot… I’ve been in the industry 15 years, in that time i can think of one project that I feel made a positive impact.
It sucks when creatives want to hide the legal disclaimer or you find out the reason why you have to describe the product as chocolateeee cause it doesn’t have any real chocolate
Unhinged. Let me guess, you think the people who threw soup on masterpieces to make a point about oil were super brave.
Peddling sugar water, tech and apparel made in 3rd world countries, petroleum products, cheaply made disposable plastic junk, “beauty” products etc to line the pockets of the man.
With a 3% average CTR, that means 97% of our work does no harm whatsoever.
Can’t categorically indict the entire industry because the fact is: there will always be quality products people deserve to hear about, which would otherwise fail without advertising.
That being said, sure the glut of what’s being pushed are garbage vices—and that’s most of my career. But SOMEONE will do that selling, and I’d rather it be me trying to make it less awful/objectionable. I don’t feel bad about doing it.
I do feel bad that absolutely nothing I’ve done at agencies was worth the time creatively—there’s not a drop of fulfillment to be had. I get that fulfillment elsewhere, but wish it could be my day-to-day in a way that still pays. End of day, I don’t WANT to rely on ads for a living. And good news: I won’t! Because the industry will kick me out whether I’m ready or not. I hope it results in something better, not worse.
It’s incredibly harmful, but it’s a symptom not the cause. Advertising is a natural extension of our current form of capitalism. If we got rid of advertising, the incentive structure that created it would still remain.
https://on.soundcloud.com/xc6Xaumr9hESqnXi8
@ 32:50
Yes. And no. But mostly yes. We only do "good things" to win awards. Of course there's probably a good amount of exceptions and outlier. IMO, this is the only job I can get paid to write. Not like authors or tv writers make money. I just try to be cautious of what I work on and then make enough money in the future to afford working on actually positive work (NGOs)
Umm i would imagine that, but none of my brands are harmful , let alone harmful enough to put someone on their death bed. Are you selling products that put people on their death bed? Or is anyone who buys a product now a victim? You're pulling out a logical fallacy there buddy-- a slippery slope.
You typed all of that as if you don't do the same job as me. If you think every headline you write kills someone, quit.
We make people smile, laugh, and feel good about themselves. I don’t feel bad about what we do at all.
Chief
WTF? We make people feel bad about themselves so they’ll buy something to make themselves feel better. That’s the entire assignment.
Publicis is certainly doing Soros and Gates work with Pfizer. Heil Arthur.
Rising Star
Pfizer isn’t even a top 20 “bad for the world” account to work on. That’s the level of late stage capitalism we’re in.
100% - within the bubble of our industry we perceive ourselves to be artist . Actually we sell useless over priced stuff to people that cant afford or need it . Also outside of the industry in the true creative , art world they look down on Advertising.
Chief
… some of us look down on advertising from inside the industry as well.
It's not our fault that that's the only work that will pay. Use your free time to try to do something about it.
I'm an activist and a designer and I raise awareness to these sort of issues as much as I can.
Everyone is selling something, we just help them do it
Right. It's not like we're putting a gun to peoples heads. We're just showing the options.
I’m lucky - although I have worked on three car accounts -Subaru, Cadillac and a Ford dealership,
- most of my accounts have been beneficial: books, cable TV, Matchbox, retail groceries, shoes (an America-made brand), restaurants, perfume, the seven Disney Family of Companies, etc. Nothing I feel bad about working on.
That's honestly why I've been enjoying pharma, doing education to try to get medical professionals to help people
...if anything pharma is the worse arm of advertising.