The Grey Zone
Like a snowflake that has drifted unwisely into the pucker of John Prescott’s anus, advertising is somewhat ephemeral.
People dismiss news as ‘tomorrow’s fish and chip paper’. Well, if that’s the case, most advertising can only dream of such longevity.
Although I can’t recall anyone mentioning this, I think that state of affairs explains some of the appeal of awards: if successful, your ad will live, in advertising terms, forever. In particular, the ones that result in some kind of annual (D&AD, The One Show etc.) will last as long as the book, which will be kept for all time in the offices of all right-thinking creatives. Of added benefit is the fact that we are taught from a very early age to respect books, particularly those which are big and hard.
However, the ads that feature in such publications are the world’s best 0.000000000000000038445206%. That means that the other 99.etc% of the industry’s product might as well not have existed.
Yes, I am aware that there are many perfectly valid ads that do not get into award books, but the chances of them being remembered for longer than a couple of weeks are minuscule.
So almost all of what we do exists in what I am about to name The Grey Zone.
Whether 3/10 or 8.5/10 your work will resound through the ages like the whisper of an asthmatic newt, and that might make you wonder whether or not it matters which of those marks it achieves.
The answer, I’m afraid, is: not really.
There are many reasons why the arguments and late nights that gets your ad from 5/10 to 6/10 (a 20% improvement) could cause more harm than good: you could piss off the kind of people who might want to sack you; you might neglect your home life to the extent that it causes irreparable damage; your work might not improve the response level of the ad, so you might miss the award books and the chance to say ‘I know it’s shit but it increased sales by 8.6%’, and at the end of the day 6/10 is also shit anyway.
So there’s not a lot of difference between ads in the Grey Zone, not matter where in the Zone they reside. And where they reside, without the benefit of an award jury’s perfect, indisputable verdict, is an entirely subjective evaluation.
I’m not saying that one shouldn’t try to do the best ads one can, but it might be a good idea to choose your battles and wait for the ones that really matter, otherwise you might just annoy people and use up valuable favours for no good reason.
From 5/10 to 6/10 is a 10% improvement.
Um…I hope you don't work in the finance department.
"…the offices of all right thinking creatives…"
Who's got an office anymore? You should have said
"… the desk in the corridor, next to the loud-mouthed planner, behind the "I'm mad me" PA, not far from the turd who plays all his music too fucking loud, of all right thinking creatives"
However there's nowhere to put the annuals anymore or, should you be insecure, your shiny awards.
You could get a tea trolley, put your annuals and awards on it and pull it round the department like a dog on wheels.
I've seen John Prescott's anus. It isn't that hot.
Thanks for the tea trolley idea but I solved two problems with one solution. I now store my awards up the planner's arse and my annuals up the loud mouthed PA's fanbelt. They being more fanny shaped. Unless you put them in sideways.
Ben, you don't have to have tiny little You Tube videos any more..
http://twitpic.com/22pf7q
A client of ours had an expression: “Look I don’t want a black thing or a white thing. Give me something from The Grey Zone and we are fine.”
My bosses liked her a lot ‚Äúbecause she knew what she wants‚Äù… bit by bit the whole agency turned grey…
The client was fired but the agency remained colourless.
wow wonderful
But surely by its very nature advertising is ephemeral. If it works, it helps sell a product, service or cause at a specific time. Job done. If does it by being funny, beautiful and or interesting to look at, then great. Job done. Consumers get something in return for their time and the creative team and agency may get some industry award recognition for the work. And that's it.
Advertising might produce some brilliantly crafted, sometimes memorable lines/ideas, but it's meant to flog stuff, not be considered works of art.
Even the very best TV ads are not really ever going to be any funnier than a single sketch in a comedy show, or visually more interesting than a Goya or Gormley, Scorsese or Spielburg.
Surely to expect more of advertising is misguided.
So we should either enjoy our jobs for what they are, make some money and ensure we have broad and interesting hinterlands outside work, or if we want to leave a legacy, paint, write, sculpt, direct, or have children.
ANON 12.03: "Even the very best TV ads are not really ever going to be any funnier than a single sketch in a comedy show"
Old Spice, Hamlet photo booth, to name but many 'sketches' funnier than any 'sketch show' on TV at the moment or then.
Anonymous 16.34. For a kick-off Hamlet photo booth was based on the Baldy Man character from a TV series called Naked Video.
Yes its funny, along with Old Spice, that surfer is hilarious and many other ads like John West Bear, some of the Orange Gold spots, Cinzano, Heineken Majorca etc provide more comedy in 30 seconds than entire series of 'Two pints of lager and a packet of crisps'. But they are still single sketch style jokes, not sustained humour built consistently over a period of time with characters many come to love.
Funny yes, funnier than entire series of Blackadder, Porridge, Monty Python, Spaced, Black Books, Father Ted, The Fast Show, Little Britain? I don't think so.
nice post. thanks.
it was very interesting to read.
I want to quote your post in my blog. It can?
And you et an account on Twitter?