Utterly Depressing Or A Necessary Reality Check?

April 30, 2008 By David Burn 9 Comments

Regarding Hugh MacLeod’s latest doodle, Rob at Six Sentences only takes three words to say, “Delicious. Awful. Accurate.” What say you?

Filed Under: Ad People

About David Burn

I wrote my first ad for a local political candidate when I was 17 (she went on to win her race, and I felt the power of persuasive copy for the first time). Today, I live near Portland, Oregon and spend my days building brands for companies that matter.

kokomjolk

If Samwell can gain notoriety and make money off of, “What What in tha Butt,” than I have to think you can make the case that anyone can rise above if they make the right content.
I will now go back to writing headlines, sorry for piping up, sir. No, please, let me have my dinner rations, I promise I’ll keep quiet.
howorignl

Unless you’re one of any number of now-famous people who actually did sell their screenplays, direct feature films, go on to fame/fortune in music/art/etc. Not that I’ve got a list handy, but it’s happened often enough to be a realistic goal no matter what your day job is.
Actually, this doodle sounds positive. It even ends with “Yay!”
Good for you, sir. Way to look on the bright side.
/enough with the whiny ad guy crap already
//boring, boring, boring
http://godsofadvertising.wordpress.com Steffan Postaer

There’s always the not-so-great American novel. Mine’s on Amazon!
-SRP
http://adpulp.com David Burn

I’m pretty sure that “Yay!” is ironic.
http://sixsentences.blogspot.com/ Rob

“Yay!” is ironic? I love that! Yay!
fatc

The whole “Yay!”sarcastic-or-not thing got me thinking:
Is it sarcastic to make fun of sarcasm with more sarcasm?
Or does doing so automatically mean you’re being genuine?
Either way, Yay!
fatc

Oops.
David called it “ironic” not sarcastic.
My bad.
Mike

Why the fuck do people always assume I want to write a screenplay or get my art in the moma? What a cliche. I like advertising. At least it’s honest that it’s a business – which is exactly hat art and entertainment is too. Everybody’s got someone to answer to on some level, to pay the bills. This isn’t a half bad job by any means.
http://adpulp.com David Burn

Interesting, Mike. I agree that we all “have to serve somebody,” as Bob Dylan made clear in song. And that advertising is a good place to serve.
As for honesty, when I decided to pursue this line of work I convinced myself it was a more honest choice than journalism, since everyone knows you’re selling something in advertising (unlike journalism). I’ve since outgrown that POV.