Wieden’s in-house ad school W+K 12, got a real life assignment from Good Magazine. The task was to create a spread that conveys the theme “I Heart America.”
W+K’s team, led by the great Jelly Helm, came up with a positive twist of a theme line, “Love it, or fix it.” Good Magazine posted a video on You Tube, showcasing the making of this campaign. One of the students in the video says, “Advertising has the potential to be a really good educational tool, so why not use that potential? Why not tap into it and use it for good?”
In other words, the video is dripping with youthful idealism. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing at all, I’m just calling it what it is.
After Adfreak posted the video, some ad grunts got a bit sick. One, going by the screen name of “Nauseous” says:
You could easily put the name “Christopher Guest” on this and pass it off as a mockumentary about over-earnest, over-grungy advertising geeks. They (and so many others in this biz) are trying waaayyyyy too hard at appearing “creative.”
I guess when you’re living in Portland as a 20-something, listening to The Village Green and M. Ward all day, it’s easy to be over-earnest about things. But isn’t that better than being overly cynical?