If This Is A Blog Then What's Christmas?

Is it possible for  every problem to have a brilliant solution?

I ask that question as someone who, either as a copywriter, CD or author, is presented with a regular supply of challenges, the answers to which are plucked from a bucket that’s basically infinite.

So if you are given a brief for 25% off carrots, in theory you might be able to come up with an ad that is so unbelievably witty, so life-alteringly persuasive, so game-changingly original that it makes every single person who reads it stop in their tracks and run as fast as they can to the nearest Aldi. 

In theory.

And it’s the same with every word or sentence you add to a novel: the possibility that you might surpass the greatness of Ulysses or Great Expectations is always on offer.

In theory.

Of course, we deal with limitations of talent and time, which makes the odds of the above happening very small. But the perpetual possibility is an interesting thing to deal with. If we go one more hour, one more day, one more week we might find the pot of gold.

Or not…

The work that’s on the table isn’t going to get worse, but will the search be worth it? And will the people involved in that search recognise the gold when they find it?

I think the impossibility of answering those questions is what keeps these tasks endlessly fascinating and endlessly frustrating: the gold might be out there, and the only way you can ever know is if you have a good hard look. Which might end in massive disappointment.

David Bowie predicts the future:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0-51IkWpFE#t=123

The making of Full Metal Jacket:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRkyKYz5SYM

Movies boiled down to 5-second pictograms (thanks, J).

Photos of Star Wars in real life (thanks, L).

12 very middle class things (thanks, S).

Coppola on filmmaking:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm_-pFHtQ7o

Fantastic advice on writing. More Milch here.

25 funny church signs.

Very weird self photos (thanks, A).

Brad Pitt and Louis CK between two ferns (thanks, D).

This is quite amazing: The Empire Strikes Back made by different fans (thanks, A).

When I was a junior copywriter I remember marvelling at how an ad ever got made. First the idea has to make it out of your own brain, then it has to be accepted by your creative partner, then the CD, then the client.

The one that I found a bit of struggle was the creative partner. Many times we agreed on what was a good solution to the brief, but disagreement happened often enough that I’d find it pretty frustrating. One way or another the CD and client are your bosses; what they say goes and after a few attempts at persuasion you have to accept what they say, but what about the person who sits across the desk from you? They’re usually at exactly the same level you are and yet they can still have the power of veto over your work.

BUT THIS IS A GOOD IDEA! my brain would occasionally scream. WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU TO SAY WHETHER WE SHOULD PRESENT IT OR NOT???

If that happened you’d have to find another way. Sometimes we’d present both ideas to the CD and let him decide, other times I’m pretty sure I presented my idea round the side, either by showing the CD when my partner wasn’t around or slipping it into a review when the other work had been killed… ‘We did have this other idea about hot air balloons made of cheese…’ If either of those paths succeeded then my partner was often happy enough that we had an ad on the go to forgive my subterfuge; if they failed then it was never that big a deal. The partner would then feel somewhat vindicated and probably let it slide as a well-meaning throw of the dice.

But then it’s not the best way to work with someone you spent 8-10 hours a day with: ‘Hi, I didn’t really respect your creative opinion on that thing so I went behind your back in a way you could do nothing about. Now I get to say ‘I told you so’ and you kind of owe me. Or you now think I’m a bit of a sly prick.’

When I was at AMV Dave Dye told me what he and Sean Doyle would do under those circumstances. They would present neither of their preferred routes and instead come up with a third that they were both happy with. I was stunned to hear of this. That just doubled the workload AND it meant throwing out good ideas. Sacrilege! But it seemed to work for them, the super-talented, hard-working bastards.

On the occasions I was able to work on my own (freelancing, AD on holiday etc.) I felt a great sense of freedom that whatever decision I made would be the one that would be acted upon. Then again, I had no one to bat ideas off and I had nowhere to hide if the idea crashed and burned. Pros and cons…

How have you got past your disagreements? Have they been cataclysmic, or are you good-natured and polite about it? Do you feel like great solutions have remained unmade because you weren’t able to persuade your creative other half of their excellence?

I’ve just finished reading this excellent compendium of advice from current successful advertising people.

For the time-poor:

1. Trust your instincts in terms of which job to go for.

2. If you have the choice, work somewhere good for less money that somewhere shit for lots of cash. The money will follow the good work you’ll do at the good place.

3. Don’t let your title define you. Look for ways to contribute even if they’re above or below your pay grade.

4. Be open to experiences outside advertising in order to keep yourself fresh (and not fresh for your job necessarily; fresh for life as a functioning human being. None of them said that, but that’s my advice. The idea that everything you do has to have an ulterior motive of career success seems a bit empty and dark).

5. Be hungry, but feed that hunger. Don’t be timid.

6. Be ego-free: don’t judge ideas by how clever they make you look, but by how useful they could be for the audience, or how they will inspire your audience to feel.

7. ‘Stop jerking off spiders’ (I suggest you read the article to find out the meaning of that one).

8. Be really fucking nice to everyone.

9. And always be positive. I was in a meeting the other day where certain things started to look a bit difficult. I responded by saying: ‘the bigger the crisis the bigger the opportunity’, But the crucial thing is that I meant it, and it changed the mood. And it’s true. You can go through life solving tiny problems that don’t really matter, or you can take on something big that needs a shitload of work to make it happen. Which do you think will be most satisfying? Which will help you grow? Which will make sure you die happy?

I hope that helps.

(Via V and M.)

A new book on copywriting just landed on my doormat:

It begins by asking the very relevant question: ‘Does the world really need another book on copywriting?’

To which the answer is clearly ‘no’, unless you stretch the definition of ‘need’ to the point where it can span the gap between Sydney Harbour Bridge and Iceland’s Keflavik International Airport.

Then again, we do need better copy if the advertising industry (although the lessons within the book can also be applied to marketing, PR, design, branding, sales etc.) is to avoid sinking like a boulder to the bottom of an ocean of squitty poos.

So please buy it and get better at writing. There’s really no downside to doing that, other than the use of time that could be better spent kicking Nigel Farage in the testicles.

To demonstrate how committed I am to this cause, here’s a contribution I made to the book:

Thanks, Gyles and Roger.

Lots of Paul Thomas Anderson shizzle.

Jimmy Page explains Stairway to Heaven (thanks, A&G).

Worst movie death scene ever (thanks, S):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrnariwULfA#t=17

The scroguard! (Thanks, B.):

Ray Liotta’s AMA.

Fincher and Towne discuss one of the best movies of all time:

God’s 12 biggest dick moves.

The best slo-mo shots of all time:

My opinion of Shia Labeouf was not high… until I watched this (thanks, J):

Dick-shaped weather (thanks, J):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4peRKgrYXuQ

A message reaches me from my friend John Allison, erstwhile ECD of the famed 4Creative advertising agency:

We’ve been stitched up by Ben&Ken. Our placement team. We asked them for fundraising ideas. They came up with this: send me and Chris back on placement.

So we’re pimping/raffling ourselves out for hire/humiliation. It’s £150 a ticket. The price of a placement team. We want to sell 100 tickets and raise as much as we can for Cancer Research.

We’ll work, make tea, write small space ads, answer the phones, whatever you want.

If you’re a boss buy some tickets and exploit us. If you’re not send this to your boss and get them to buy as many tickets as they can afford.

More info here.

J&Cx

Cheap at twice, or even thrice the price. AND you get to help fuck cancer.

Is there a better deal available in all of cyberspace?

(I’d get them to orally pleasure a trout.)