Now you can’t move for supermen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NKvN7U5RXQ
Judging by the above evidence this trope can produce some pretty fine work, but where will it end?
The most recent example gives us a clue:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8niTv9I3eCk
The less witty and original beginning of the descent down the lav. Oh dear.
Cannes is great (thanks, D):
Prince sings Starfish and Coffee on The Muppets:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Iti4Td-2Oc&feature=youtu.be
Common household items that could kill you if you’re a fucking moron (thanks, T).
A huge amount of addictive fun (thanks, J).
Terrible ad placements (thanks, J).
Painting with Nigel Farage (thanks, J).
Amazing Star Wars scenes made from a single sheet of paper (thanks, G).
Shit my leg off, this is terrifying.
David Bowie’s dentures (thanks, T).
Here’s an interesting memo from David Ogilvy.
I’m guilty of all of those except 1, 3, 5 and 12 (and I was never Creative Head in New York).
I’m not sure why he’d say intolerance of mediocrity is a weakness. Sounds a bit like saying ‘I’m a perfectionist’ is a weakness: for lots of reasons it’s a massive strength. It becomes a weakness when you’re not prepared to see past mediocrity to the person behind it and try to turn mediocrity into excellence. After all, we all go through a period of mediocrity before we come geniuses. If no one’s there to help us on the journey then no improvements will be made.
Then again, I like to think I’m intolerant of mediocre movies, food, music etc. But I express that intolerance by avoiding a repetition of the experience (if possible). When it comes to mediocre staff… well, you hired them (usually), so it’s your responsibility to make them better. Most people have potential in them.
I never enjoyed firing anyone, but realised it was part of the job. I tend to look at my job as doing the nice bits for free and being paid to do the less nice bits.
I’m very happy to fly. Good to get some peace and quiet.
And my boredom threshold is quite high because I find the vast majority of what happens on Earth to be absolutely fascinating.
My other weaknesses include my left knee and the more-occasional-than-I’d-like Reese’s Nutrageous.
What are yours?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtyZMVhBkVk#t=82
An interesting aspect of the advertising creative’s lot is their team chemistry.
The overwhelming majority of copywriters and art directors work as a duo, so beyond their own individual abilities they have to try to create a successful working combination. That throws up a multiplicity of questions and circumstances, all of which can have a massive bearing on the output that ensues:
Is this possible partner Mr./Mrs. Right or just Mr./Mrs. Right Now? You have to have a partner, so you have to go for someone, but what if the perfect Yin is not available for your Yang? You have to compromise, but to what extent?
How do you find that partner? If you go to some kind of advertising college you have a couple of advantages: you’re discovering the skill and the business from the same starting point; but you also have a larger number of people to choose from, so there’s a better chance of finding your Romeo/Juliette.
What if you don’t appreciate what your other half gives you? I’ve long believed that it can be very helpful to have a team composed of a shit-hot creative and a shit-hot PR-ish person, someone who will schmooze the best briefs out of the CD and help sell the resulting work down the line, protecting it from possible damage along the way. But in the early days the PR half’s benefits may not be immediately apparent, and even later, might you resent them for being less ‘creative’?
What if circumstances lead to a change of teams later in a career? Your partner might get disillusioned enough to leave the industry; they might have to follow their boy/girlfriend to a new country; they might get fired; your CD might want to shake things up; another creative in the department might chat up your partner in the agency bar, and over a few months persuade them to leave you. Whatever happens, you then have to find another partner in your agency, or, if you are then considered to be surplus to requirements, you have to go out into the big wide world and find another partner. Are the partnerless options a bit crap? Why is a divorced person divorced? Are they damaged goods or were they just mismatched in the first place? Lots of fine creatives kissed a few frogs before finding their prince, or at least made the best of a situation that was not quite perfect.
What if your combination is just off? Two plus two can end up equalling all sorts of things if you get it right/wrong. When Tom got together with Walt it was a match made in advertising heaven. The same went for Mark Denton and Chris Palmer, Dave Dye and Sean Doyle, John Hegarty and Barbara Nokes, Richard Flintham and Andy MacLeod etc. etc. What if Walt, Chris, Sean, Barbara and Richard had been working elsewhere? What if they had never existed? Would the work of Tom, Mark, Dave, John and Richard have been better or worse? What if Dye had teamed up with MacLeod? What if Denton had joined Nokes? We’ll never know (unless they decide to go for those pairings now), but the possibilities are intriguing.
I think the very good creatives can make many partnerships work. If you go through old award books you’ll find some of them winning prizes in different combinations. But the question remains: what if Lennon had met Dylan instead of McCartney, or Neil Young had found himself somehow working alongside Pete Waterman. What works of genius have we missed? What terrible pairings has fate allowed us to avoid?
Quantum physics suggests the answers lie somewhere in the universe, but it also suggests we are all random compositions of energy that render our human forms laughably pointless.
Pay your money, take your choice.
Sign painters: keepers of the craft:
An oral history of Mad Men (thanks, W).
How do cheeseburgers age? In the case of McDonald’s not very much:
Everything is better with googly eyes.
Share your fucking story (thanks, V).
Good One Direction spoof:
And some other amazing comics (thanks, T).
Beautiful food colour gradients (thanks, J).
The great combovers of Asia (thanks, J).
Yes. That’s the joke (thanks, D).
This is very funny (thanks, T).