Over the course of my career, I’ve found it fascinating how your financial satisfaction affects what you think and what you think affects your financial satisfaction.

For example, I once got a pay increase from 10k to 12k which made me much happier than larger raises I got later on in my career.

And I’ve learned over the years that a raise is like a meal, in that it only makes you happy for a while, then you start wondering where the next meal is coming from. You easily modify your outgoings, which worked fine at 30k, so that you’re suddenly not earning enough at 45k. How does that happen?

It’s a truism in advertising creative departments that you are underpaid for the first half of your career and overpaid for the second half. Can’t someone just work it out so that you’re paid the average for your whole career?

I have never shaken the feeling that I had as an underpaid junior, that I need to make the most of any situation in which the beer is free. I may have stopped taking bottles home in my pockets, but there’s still that distant voice that tells me fill my boots while the going’s good.

Then there’s the other truism (or truth), that people would rather earn 50k if everyone else in the office earns 45k, than 85k if everyone else in the office earns 100k.

So it’s all relative.

I love the line in Wall Street where Charlie Sheen asks Gordon Gekko ‘How many boats can you waterski behind?’. Is it human nature to always want more, or can we temper that somewhat? I think we can. I suppose it depends on the lifestyle you’d like to live, but there must be a point where the extras become less satisfying.

I often see great people moving to unexpected agencies. I am often told afterwards that the great person in question is going through a divorce.

A team I once knew insisted on staying nowhere for longer than three years. Then they stayed where they were for the next five. Perhaps the never-ending desire to acquire more money can be quenched by happiness.

So, past a certain point, is money a substitute for happiness?

Perhaps it’s worth remembering that money is worthless until you spend it.

Many wise people say that you should never move agencies for money rather than happiness. Good advice, but if you can, try to move for happiness and money. Then give the excess to Amnesty International.

(Special bonus Blog thingie: Jeremy Clarkson is not an enormous fan of BMW Joy. Thanks, L. And some ‘unintentionally’ amusing comics. Thanks, different L.)

Still prefer the XXX one, but this is enjoyably crazy:

Do you ever wonder why a wife stays with an abusive husband? As much as those of us who are not that wife find it difficult to understand, I think it’s because of something I refer to as The Whole Package (TWP). I believe that the lady in question adds up all the other factors (place to live, their kids, getting another job, psychological reasons, his looks and status etc.) and decides that the pros outweigh the cons, however bad those cons might be.

For a more a more lightweight example, it’s the same as when you choose to watch an Edward Norton movie despite the fact that you’re not keen on him. That movie might be what your other half wants to see; the subject matter might be of enormous interest to you; it might also star Natalie Portman; you’re just not in the mood for a romantic comedy. So TWP is assessed and you see the movie.

Bus or tube?
Thick and beautiful vs clever and ugly?
Giving to Amnesty over the Red Cross?
Go to the loo before the meeting or risk having to leave during?
Evian or Volvic?
Visit grandma or leave her lonely for another week?

Maybe I’m stating the obvious here, but there are hundreds of factors involved in the various decisions you make on a daily basis.

And advertising can be one of those factors.

Often one tiny one in a crowd of other angels and devils sitting on your shoulders.

It might well have no bearing on your decision at all, but it’s one of the few parts of the process that the owners of the product can control. They can’t tell if you’re in a Twirl mood versus a Twix mood. They have no idea if you have enough change in your pocket to buy an EAT club sandwich. They don’t know if you were planning on buying a Nissan Micra, but just before you got to the showroom you received a text informing you that your hated next-door-neighbour, who happens to own a Nissan Micra, has been making the beast with two backs with your wife.

They can just spend thousands/millions trying to create a good impression and hope that it makes a difference to TWP.

No one said it was easy.

I love Penn and Teller. I saw them at the MGM Grand in Vegas right after I got married.

The only thing I would prefer to the following trick would be a duplicate of it involving Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee:

And don’t forget to vote in the brand new, completely original poll to the right.

Last week’s result showed an astonishing lack of interest in being eaten by mice. Let’s see to what extent you’d prefer to be fucked to death by them.

Sometimes, having two minutes to say something is not a good thing:

I think it was shot by Ringan, although it has a vibe of Traktor circa 2000.

I’d say it’s going to get the kids going potty, and that’s a good thing.

The other good thing is that it’s batshit fucking crazy, and, ironically, we need a few more of those ads to keep us sane.

(Actually, I think that may be the promo for a shorter ad.)

Daryl and I once hired a team called Chris Bowsher and Fran Leach. Fortunately for them, they left our evil clutches and ended up at Dye Holloway Murray, where Dave Dye’s influence will be of far greater benefit than ours ever was.

As proof of this, I present their excellent Economist ‘Pad’; a notepad where each sheet has has an application for the patent office on the reverse. Brilliant, simple, listed at the Campaign BIG Awards:

Also by DHM is this exquisite trade campaign for the same client. It looks to me like the kind of thing that should walk into D&AD several times:

Congrats to Dave Dye, Ollie Wolf, David Goss, Janson Choo, Chris Bowsher and Fran Leach.

Have a lovely weekend. Mine will involve Arsenal and Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs.

But it’s too long and a bit fuzzy.

I think I’m trying to say that I don’t really get it. Was he an alien? Why? I’d have another look but I don’t care enough to watch it twice.