It ain’t what you do, it’s the why that you do it
If you saw someone knock a T-shirt off a shop display then walk away you might be inclined to pick it up and replace it, but why?
If you want the place to look a bit tidier for other people, or you want to save the shop assistant from having to do it, or you want to avoid people treading on the T-shirt and ruining it, then great.
If you want to make the other person feel bad, or you want to make yourself feel all virtuous, or you want to show the other people nearby what an ace person you are, then not so great.
Same action; different motives. Some rather lovely; some an expression of the little inadequacies in your head.
What about winning Wimbledon, and indeed the training it takes to do that?
If you love tennis for its own sake, or you want to inspire people to fulfil on their possibilities, or you want to keep testing your abilities at a higher level to see what you can be capable of, then that’s just dandy.
If you hate your dad and you want to show him you’re better than he’ll ever be, or you have a deep hole of misery in your soul from when you were abused as a child and the adulation from the crowd can temporarily reduce it, or you want the stability that comes from the prize money because you never quite feel safe, then that’s not so fine.
Yes, there may be other benefits that come from actions that exacerbate existing damage or make a single person feel bad, but the holes will never be filled. The cycle will continue. No amount of success or acts of (supposed) kindness will heal the wounds.
It might be worth bearing this in mind when we look at things that make little or no sense in the advertising world. For example, I can’t believe anyone still tacks pre-roll ads to the beginning of YouTube clips. We’re all consumers. We all hate the companies that do this. Why bother? A media buyer that recommends pre-roll might truly believe that the client is getting their message in front of the right eyes because TV is dead and this is a great way to target people with greater precision. Or they might simply be going along with the prevailing fashion that will deliver some KPIs that are bullshitty enough to keep them in their job, or get them a raise. And that might make mummy proud, or lead to the Audi A8 that will show those bastards at school who said they’d never amount to anything.
On the flip side, why is the client saying yes? She watches YouTube and hates the preroll just like the rest of us. Why would her company escape the hatred by doing the same thing? Does she want to just keep her head down and hope no one notices that she was promoted too soon? Is she scared of a boss that would prefer her to do something reliable, the hatred of which is impossible to truly measure? Or does she really love her ad so much that she thinks people will want to see it and therefore no skipping will occur?
Do you want that helicopter shot because you think it’ll improve the ad’s chances of selling product? Or do you want to ride in a chopper and tell your mates a story that makes you look good?
Do you refuse to work on that fast food company’s account because you are genuinely troubled by the wages they pay their staff? Or do you want to feel superior and tell your boyfriend how lovely and principled you are?
Do you work in advertising because it pays fairly well and makes you feel all gooey inside when you work with famous photographers or see your work on TV? Or are you genuinely interested in solving problems for brands that are indirectly paying you to do so?
I think most of us end up on autopilot about why we do things, but it might be worth asking those questions occasionally. And if the answers that come back don’t seem right you might want to consider altering your behaviour until they do.
I feel this whole post comes purely from the amount of pre-rolls and FULL ads you have to watch before you can view ANY video content in the states, when compared to the UK where it’s nearer zero…
Had same experience and whenever I’m back in states it takes about 1 hour before I go ‘fuck this’ and don’t watch much video.
It didn’t really come from there.
@Lamby: Get AdBlock. Simple as that.
Great question.
We wouldn’t start to do an ad without a brief, and yet we live our life without a brief
Great piece Ben. Looking for any virtue in business today is a tough search IMO. In fact the search get harder and harder the more brands tell us of their virtues.
Which is why I’d rather the focused on making great products over telling us how to live or being SJW as they attempt to make what they call meaningful brands.
I think that for most people it’s probably a mix of both in life. Sometimes you do things for the “right” reasons and other times you might do something for a slightly lesser noble reason but it still gets shit done.
An excellent post. Thank you.
Do you only have one reason for doing something? Isn’t it usually a list of pros and cons, some virtuous some less so, where your primary reason for doing something constantly changes depending on how you’re feeling?
I’ve been freelance for a few years now, and it’s lot easier to give an answer that will work (or at least one you think will work) personally I’m not caught up anymore in trying to win awards, or worried about keeping my job, or to be honest seeing a job through to the end. Even if it does end up having a helicopter shot in it I won’t be there.
That said I can only do what I think is the right answer for a couple of days, after that if the agency wants an answer that will keep the client happy then that is what I have to work on, I still have bills to pay. But for the first few days I try to solve the problem in front of me and not necessarily the one in the brief either. It’s been the most refreshing part about being freelance. The flip side being it’s f**king depressing when you have to just give em what they want, but it’s a case of headphones on a knock it out.
@Dave Trott:
Not sure I agree with your statement. We clearly do have briefs on how to live our lives, although they might be different per cultural regions. Some briefs might just be a tad more attainable than others, or more cruel, more empathetic, etc..
US brief could be something like this:
“Make money. Be the best you can, at least be better than others. Don’t do anything unless it nets you either fame, money or both. Be Christian, or be quiet. And kick a bunch of poor people on the way up.”
German brief more like this:
“Be clean, be efficient, be punctual. Be wary of very rich people. Be envious of those daring to dream too much. Try to remember the atrocities from WW2. Try.”
French:
“Be cool, très cool. Then vote some right wing into parliament. Even if you are part of la gauche caviar (rich socialist)…. ect.
@Elias: I think Dave meant setting your own brief; not just conforming to your national stereotype.
And @Nobby: indeed. The reasons can change constantly, but I don’t think that negates my point. People still operate unaware of what those reasons are.
I once spent two weeks in Ethiopia with a guy who’d devoted his entire life to helping the neediest of the needy in the worst possible places for the best possible reasons. Made me reassess my motivations a bit.