Decline and fall of advertising

My colleague Andy tracked down a great story yesterday: BBDO is losing a top creative, Eric Silver, to DDB, where he seems to be filling a role held by another guy, Lee Garfinkel. It was nice to have a front-row seat to old-fashioned shoe-leather reporting to break a story.

This is out of my depth: two traditional creatives who mostly make TV spots. What's interesting is the intense discussion that has ensued in the comments section, where there are 162 responses in less than a day. Like Cathy, I think it lays bare the jealousies and fears of the ad world. The backbiting in advertising is legendary, but it's event like this that put it into full focus.

What it also shows, I think, is a yearning for the good old days, before all this data stuff and consumers tuning out their messages. A tug of war over two creatives is like something out of Mad Men, when advertising creatives were larger than life. Andy lays out what Silver is best known for: a FedEx spot where a caveman ends up crushed by a dinosaur, and a Monster commercial " that used a moose's head and backside mounted on opposite sides of a wall to illustrate the difference between the haves and have-nots at work."

The truth of the matter is all these slapstick animal ads matter less and less to clients and, most importantly, to consumers. Yet the vituperation -- one commenter called another a "dildo" -- on this story shows me that much of the ad world is still out of step with reality. These arguments about "the work" betray a cultural problem. It's like the finance guys still thinking it's OK to buy corporate jets and give out billions in bonuses. They don't get it. Times have changed.

Comments

[Tom Cunniff]

I started my career in the traditional ad business, and loved it. I learned a LOT, and met some fantastic people. I moved into interactive in the early 90s when I saw an important shift in media coming.

The changes that began then are accelerating now. Digital has ripped a gigantic and permanent hole in the center of the media and advertising business.

A lot of people's oxen will be gored. And a lot of people will be unwilling or unable to reinvent themselves. Terrible, but to borrow a quote from Tom Friedman's latest book "Whoever heard of a revolution where nobody gets hurt?"

At the highest levels the pressure must be massive, and the path ahead must look like something out of an even-less-cheery-than-usual Cormac McCarthy novel.

What we're hearing in these comments are the death screams of what was. Anyone remember the Kubler-Ross model and the stages of dying?

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

[vinny warren]

brian,

this isn't limited to US advertising either. as anyone who reads Scamp's UK ad blog can attest. digital/traditional sniping aside, there are,probably always have been and always will be, a lot of very bitter and angry people in advertising. digital and traditional. and now they have a forum.

[HighJive]

"They don't get it. Times have changed."

Couldn't that comment apply to Adweek?

But seriously, most of the comments on that particular thread are completely unintelligible. It's just frat boy silliness.

As for digital versus traditional, one thing is certain: If Silver does indeed land at DDB, he'll be making 2-3 times more money than any digital creative in the U.S. Probably more.

[Ethan Bauley]

"If Silver does indeed land at DDB, he'll be making 2-3 times more money than any digital creative in the U.S. Probably more."

Doesn't this illustrate the very point of this blog post?

;-)

Great stuff, Brian!

[michael maurillo]

i counted about 5 comments (mine is now the 6th) that tries to shine a light on the real issue. it's simply amazing. this was my favorite of the bunch... "#
Baffled idiot
February 05, 2009
i mean Baffled Three. I don't know if you been paying attention to the media this week. But there seemed to be a lot of coverage, discussion and excitement all pertaining to, wow, 30 second tv spots. When was the last time you saw that for a website? oh, never. Exactly. The people that want TV to die are the people that could never succeed doing it. TV is still the best medium that mass amounts of people can relate to. And if you can master that you can do good internet and multimedia campaigns. It never happens the other way around. Get a life."

The fact that this guy actually thinks it matters where a good idea comes from just shows how big this problem really is.

[HighJive]

Just curious, michael m, what do you think is "the real issue" in this scenario?

[michael maurillo]

@HighJive
i agree with @bmorrissey 100% on the "real issue." the debate taking place on adweek is based on things like which of these guys has won more awards for their TV ads. not one person spoke to why they might be the right leader to take DDB into the future. that is, unless, you think the future is going to be full of :30 spots (one person did mention that Silver won an award for Outdoor, so he's got that going for him.) and that's the issue, an integrated creative director is someone that can do tv AND outdoor.

actually, i'm in no position to be commenting on Silver or Lee. i never worked with either. Silver did post, though, to the thread and i thought he made some good points (and i told him so).

my pov on this whole thing has to do with a bunch of art directors and copy writers that still think the old way is the only way. the sad part is that we need their help to figure the "new" way out, but they rather insult each other over cavemen and midget lotto spots.

[HighJive]

OK, I thought it was just about some morons who were somehow burned by Garfinkel or Silver in the past and wanted to air their grievances in the most ineffective way imaginable.

[Brian Morrissey]

@highjive: My only point is those burned creatives airing their grievances betrayed a larger issue facing the ad industry: obsolescence of swathes of it.

[HighJive]

@ Brian

I definitely agree with you to a degree. My question/concern involves who is really being represented by the comments. For example, I've spent most of my career in what George Parker defines as BDAs. I definitely see people holding dearly to a past that no longer exists. But I also see new generations who hold no allegiances to such attitudes. Plus, I see many older employees recognizing and acting on the need for change. I guess my point is, can we make generalizations on the industry based on the anonymous rants on a thread? Do 200+ comments really represent the thousands in the industry? I have no idea what the answer is. But I do believe the ones recognizing and acting on change outnumber the dinosaurs. And I also believe most of them do not visit sites like Adweek.com or AdAge.com. Granted, there are many dinosaurs in key positions of power. But still.