Drunken debuachery in Chicago. I’m stunned.
Lewis Lazare and his bow tie attended the fourth annual Chicago Creative Club Awards recently. What he found there disturbed him. Here’s what he found:
Hundreds of local creatives who were well on their way toward total inebriation. As they have at CCC shows in years past, members of this city’s ad industry proved they have no respect for their peers, their creative output or their profession, as they proceeded to talk loudly and constantly amongst themselves during the ceremony.
Drunk and debauched as the crowd was, we wonder if any of the scores of young creatives obviously there to have a good time were aware that this town’s ad industry is in the midst of a crisis, with the fates of several important agencies now at a crucial turning point.
That’s like asking if we’re at war in Iraq, don’t you think?
Getting blotto at an event of this nature does not equal incompetence, nor stupidity. It’s a party. A party during wartime. I wish I’d been there to buy Lazare a double.
Drinking alcohol can fatten your pay check, according to a Reason Foundation study published in the Journal of Labor Research.
No, it’s not incompetence or stupidity. The word is “rude”. I’ve seen this over and over – all the creative geniuses at shows or conferences or portfolio reviews are too important to shut down the mutual admiration society back-slapping and ass kissing.
Get drunk before at the coctail hour. Get hammered afterward. But give the people presenting and accepting awards a little respect. Or didn’t your mothers teach you the meaning of that word, either?
Man, it feels weird to agree with Lazare. Then again, Marty at Energy BBDO did, too, so maybe I’m not in such bad company.
I always thought there was a difference between wine, women, song and booze, boobs, bombs. And on isolated occasions, various experiences, I have learned exactly that.
I think Lewis needs to call his sponsor…
Is it me, or does this guy seem like a frustrated ad guru wannabe? Sometimes his comments are spot-on, but most of the time it reads like so much sour grapes, as if his career in advertising flopped so now he’s exacting revenge through his column.
I think it is time the ad industry stop focusing on awards ceremonies and start focusing on solving its clients problems.