Doug Pray’s latest film provides its viewers with insight from the some of the greatest creative minds of our time. I knew the agencies (some of them), I knew their clients and I knew their campaigns, but I didn’t know who the “Mad Men” and “Mad Women” were and how they created their masterworks.
According to the movie we receive 5,000 advertising messages a day. The film goes on to say that 61% of Americans feel they are bombarded with too much advertising everyday. Those two statistics really got me to thinking. Are 5,000 messages a day too much? In my opinion it’s not the amount of messages that people receive that is the problem, but the quality of those messages. As much as we hate to admit it, as a culture, we love advertising. The Super Bowl is watched as much for the ads as it is for the game itself; we don’t dislike advertising, we dislike bad advertising.
The question then becomes, is there anything we can do to change the system? How do you address the concerns of each party? We all know agencies want to do good work, clients want to move product, change perceptions and shape opinions, and customers don’t want to be bothered. That last part is only somewhat true, because according to the film people don’t mind being sold to if they understand why it’s happening and enjoy the process. If you can sell someone in an entertaining way they will love it – why don’t more clients realize this? Are we as agencies doing enough to convince our clients that we are the experts and we know what’s best for their brands?
I enjoyed Art & Copy and I think it should be shown to anyone who thinks they have an inkling of what it takes to work in advertising; whether they are on the account side, creative or media, it doesn’t matter. I loved this film so much I think agencies all over should put it on a continuous loop in the lobbies of their offices, and just happen to have it playing in conference rooms prior to a meetings. Not so much to inspire the staff (or to drive the receptionist mad), but as a means to indoctrinate the clients who come to visit. George Lois, the man Tommy Hilfiger called a visionary, said in order to make his clients wealthy, he had to drag them with him kicking and screaming. Ads are all around us and there’s nothing we can do to stop them, but we can try our hardest to make the best ones possible.
– Marquis Duncan, Ad 2 Orlando Membership Co-Chair