Tell The Truth

Brian Brooker, CEO & chief creative officer of Barkley, writing for Talent Zoo asks agency personnel to consider doing something radical to improve the work.

Here’s a thought on how advertising could move up a few notches: Tell the truth. Tell the truth in a way that inspires rather than dulls the mind like a double scotch. Tell the truth in a way that reflects real life, not an advertiser’s pipe dream. Tell the truth in a way that gives customers credit for their intelligence, rather than treats them as if they all have room temperature IQs. Remember that consumers appreciate creativity. They like to laugh. They can put two and two together.

I, for one, am all for telling consumers the truth. But I can’t quite imagine the thousands of brand managers working on commodity products sharing our zeal for honesty.