What makes you want to quit advertising?
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Rising Star
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The sheer irrelevance of it all
both a to b
Every time I see a small business close down and get replaced with a big chain, I think it's kind of my fault for working in an industry that just makes big brands bigger.
The fact that you can work your ass off, deliver great work, and still be let go at any second.
I understand.
Feel like im on the wrong side of capitalism - everything is meaningless yet everyone breaks their backs over a deck. Overworked and underpaid and for what in the grand scheme of things
Ok wrong side of capitalism isnt the best wording lol. When i say that I mean I'm anticapitalist and tired of helping put dollars into large corporations. The longer I'm in this business the more disgusted i get about it all and how meaningless this line of work. Most of the shit we are selling (genuinely) isn't doing good for communities and its sad to see how much money there is for dumb stuff when people are starving, losing their jobs, and billionares just keep profiting.
I think it would be easier to list the things that make me want to stay in it:
- a paycheck
A passion for advertising 😂
Holding companies!!!
Chief
The fact that I'll have no choice anyway once I age out, which could happen at any second now
AI, the pay, the clients who hire us but act like we don’t know anything
Working with idiots
The fact that there’s no long term stability and the insane layoff culture means you’re always dodging bullets
It’s a dying, shrinking industry, constantly under threat, that has lost its relevance with the people paying us.
This. The overall model is in deep trouble long term. My only hope at this point is when my time comes it's at least somewhat on my terms.
Companies wanting a "unicorn" that is an expert in 5 different job areas + content creator for poor 99 an hour.
Y’all know this stuff is stupid as hell. Working with people who think they are going to change culture or think they are making an artful impact. That makes me want to vomit and throw my laptop out the window.
and the micromanging CDs that constantly obsess over "pushing the work" only for the client to throw all of it out the window, then dictate what should be said and shown, while the account team nods their head and promises that's what they'll get instead of pushing back, essentially making all the work you put in absolutely pointless... C'MON
Everything.
No $ for overtime. No work/life balance. Most people only see a promotion by getting a job at another agency. AI is continuously making most of the industry replaceable. Even directors at agencies are openly telling newcomers that “this isn’t the most interesting job in the world.” Staff are stretched thin. You don’t just do your actual job. One person is expected to plan campaigns, set them up, optimize regularly, spend time putting PowerPoints together and Presenting them weekly/monthly/quarterly, and handling invoicing as well (why isn’t this part the responsibility of Finance or Accounting?). Multiply that by the # of clients you have, plus any employees you manage, and also add on the pointless ad hoc requests from clients that do nothing to help their brand but are a “fun exercise.” One person is expected to think both abstractly & analytically at the same time, which is not realistic if you ask any psychologist. People great at parsing data all day long are not good at coming up with strategy. Creative people cannot be distracted with repetitive tasks. People great at making an account perform might not be good at communicating and formatting everything into a report. These tasks are not being delegated appropriately. The actual work involved in setting up and optimizing is also being constantly distracted by procedural BS. QA processes, status docs and agendas. Insights. Trainings on software platforms that you know you won’t need to use, or that you know will make your job more difficult. Hours (sometimes 4-5 a day) of phone calls, most of which are not at all necessary. You might have 30-minute pockets to get each of your tasks done. Need to rework some budgets? Better be a human calculator, or wait until 4:45pm when you finally have the time to hunker down. You rarely get a stretch of time to focus, and instead get pulled in different directions for different questions for different clients in different verticals. And everything always needs to be done NOW. All jobs have stressful days, but in advertising this is most days or everyday. Even at a small agency no one’s heard of, it will be a minimum of 3 months to lessen your workload, if they even listen to you. You will hear the dumbest things you’ve ever heard from your team. I recently had a coworker say they don’t watch YouTube much because “it’s for a younger crowd.” I didn’t know 45 and under was that young. No one in this industry is interested in understanding the market, by the way. They’re interested in pushing consumers to be more like them, and it shows in the results they produce. And then they wonder why their campaigns aren’t effective. And you’re chained to your computer all day. I forget how to talk to human beings by the time I log off. The only people who tell you they like their advertising job are coordinators who don’t have to do the heavy lifting in the weeds, people who have no ideas but pride themselves on how well they follow orders, or liars.
You described it perfectly
The politics 😭 im not unaware of how predatory or evil advertising is for the public but agencies are like a battle of the deepest throat.
And the fact that the Juniors are already sniffing this poo… everyone should get at least couple of years of blissful ignorance, fun, etc out of it before becoming jaded, We used to. Blah.
Also just clients being lame. Like what are the chances I produce something I THINK is cool without someone watering it down or ruining it
For Amgen my ideas are definitely based in the client truths for what they need the issue is most of client decision makers are boring unimaginative people. They want virality without doing anything worthwhile. They want renown but do nothing mentionable or meaningful. Like bro wtf
You will work your ass off and it can all be thrown out based on a single opinion. Clients don’t trust you and the agency is so desperate to keep the business you do what they want and it’s always bad. Getting unhelpful, basic feedback (what are you being paid for if all you say is “push it” or “have fun with it”?). Reworking the same concept until it’s no longer the concept. The amount of work that still gets you “meets expectations.” The urgency and shortening timelines. Doing all the work and still getting paid less (the work wouldn’t exist without me, yet I’m paid less for actually making it while you sit on your ass and brag about it on LinkedIn). AI slop. The pretentiousness of it all. Layoffs and any real control over your career.
I could go on. I’ve already decided this is my last agency job.
Hearing: “Hey- I have an idea- influencers!”
😭 - my reaction to this one especially
Omnicom
Doing it for stuff you're morally against. It's like feeding the utopian propaganda of advertising that makes you believe the perfect kitchen, from the ad on the billboard, is what you really need in your life to fulfill all your needs. This applies also to the fact that there are companies that indirectly finance wars and bad things happening right now on this very planet, by saying so I'd feel very wrong about anything today and I don't want to be part of the wrong side in history one day. Wanna make true advertising? Brake the rules, write a manifesto and criticize the system with the stuff you do: be the voice many people are waiting for out there.