Related Posts
Still haven't received my Disney + code 🧂🧂🧂🧂
Additional Posts in Advertising
Account Manager roles at Google, what's it like?
The Ask a Recruiter bowl is ghosting already.
What do y'all know about Konrad NY?
Chief
Wendys twitter interactions are pure gold.
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
Talk to your manager(s) and see if you can get reassigned to different brands. Realize you may have decreasing flexibility in who you work with over time as more companies "reveal" their support. Refine what you consider to be unacceptable support: verbal vs monetary support on behalf of a company, verbal vs monetary support by individual people in leadership at that company. Lobbying efforts you disagree with on behalf of the company. Recognize that refusing to write advertisements for happy meals doesn't move the needle.
With only the slightest hint of condescension, I'd start by educating myself about the relationship my clients have to the behaviors I see as problematic.
If, for example, the problematic behavior was being committed by individual franchise owners I probably wouldn't hold it against the global brand.
Or if the brand ruffled feathers in an attempt to maintain neutrality around a politically complicated issue, I'd consider if I truly believed they stood against my values.
These things tend to be less black and white than viral social media would have you believe.
And calling genocide and slaughtering of children "black and white" is a distressing sentence in itself. Let alone believing that.
I don’t. I have worked on a number of brands that don’t align with moral values. I look at my job as just a job. Collect a paycheck to keep food on the table and a roof over my head. I choose advertising as a profession knowing full well that the brands I help sell products for aren’t the best ones for our society. Just being honest.
Yes. I will never align with any of my brands. And I can work with that. Nothing is ethical in capitalism. However, if I can avoid not writing for even just one brand that's donated money to the IDF, then I can be happy with that. Of course if I avoided it all I'd be out of a job. It's a lot of checks and balances at least for me
I don't know where I said I thought me not working could change the war or clients. It's a personal moral. People are vegetarian cause they don't want to hurt animals, not because they think they can end the entire meat industry. But like you avoid client industry's where advertising actively is harmful, no body cares if you avoid it. It's not like you refusing to work on it will won't change the industry's behavior or what's happening to cause that harm.
No body cares what I work on, but I care what I work on, and what I support.
Now that being said I work with plenty of clients that aren't ethical. I do the work and get my money because I can't avoid everything or frankly anything. But the mindset that advocating for my morals is useless because i my morals don't matter feels a tad out dated, especially in context to a modern day genocide
Hey thank you I appreciate that! It's not black and white and I just think that let's say I have dominoes Starbucks and McDonald's are my client. All Zionist corporations. I CANT AVOID IT. BUT maybe I can not write for McDonald's and just SB and dominoes. Little things add up and the notion that because on personal can't make a difference, there's no point in trying, makes me wonder why we have the term "there's power in numbers." ACD 1 I'm sorry you think so little of the power in protest and boycott. But I hope you can enjoy your life without the guilt of knowing we are slaughtering Palestinian kids as I type this.
You could remind yourself that nobody actually cares whether you work on those brands or not and you refusing to work on it won’t change the client’s behavior or what’s happening in Israel.
And yeah there are entire client industries I refuse to work on, but those tend to be things where I feel the advertising itself is actively harmful.
Strongly disagree
As a Jewish immigrant from South America who is Pro Palestine…. I don’t think about these issues one bit. I chose to live in this country. I knew it was a Capitalist country that funded wars. I know what advertising is. There are no surprises here.
I suggest changing to another field if it bothers you. You might be a better human being then me.
Freelancing is the ideal for sure
Honestly, if this stuff bothers you, advertising may just not be the industry for you long term. Every. Single. Corporation. Is. Bad.
In relation to Israel/Palestine or anything else, for profit companies are greedy. It’s just part of the world.
If there’s a very specific client you’re working on that you have issue with, I think it’s fair to ask to not work on them anymore. But know this may hurt you in the future.
It sucks and I’m not trying to belittle your feelings. But this is just the reality.
Im sorry im not sure where i said i thought that? I think writing ads for brands that support genocide, is supporting genocide. Which isn't an opinion it's fact. Honestly though, You should be a lawyer, you're very good at putting words in someone's mouth, and speaking ignorance with such confidence. Next time a world wide issue happens that I want to stand behind, I'll remember the wise words of associate creative director 1: "nobody cares what you do and you won't change anything." 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩
👏
This was beautifully said. I'm doing a lot of this already. But I appreciate you getting to the point. Incredible thank you so much.
Yeah I do avoid specific clients. I don't avoid everything. Like I know I can't avoid iPhones or Amazon. But if I can avoid one client donating money to Israel, then I can sleep soundly at night. But I'm not going to leave the industry. Especially because as I grow in my career I'll have opportunity to work for more purpose driven work. But im not naive. I know this is the world we live in. I just want to be able to avoid some not all. If I avoided all I'd be living in the woods alone