I had really low expectations of “Trust Me”, so I recorded it and didn’t watch it until last night. Then, when I saw the opening scene, with two scruffy 30-something white guys with Starbucks cups in hand and laptop bags slung around their chests, I figured at least the set designers knew what they were doing.
I’ve worked in a bunch of different types of agencies, but never a big Chicago shop, so there was way more drama packed into an hour than I’ve witnessed in the ad world. So I asked someone I know, who spent several years in a Chicago agency, what he thought:
I think it’s extremely accurate. Except for the the guy going to the client uninvited and the coming up with a spot on the spot in the meeting.
But the account director lying about a Super Bowl spot to get them back from L.A., the fit thrown by the CD, the other CD offering to “help” as he tried to steal the account, the Us vs. Them even though you’re supposedly on the same team, all of that is exactly how it was.
I still think advertising isn’t all that interesting an industry to make for good TV, so we’ll probably see more outlandish character behavior to liven up future episodes. Still, I was surprised how much I got into “Trust Me.” You can certainly poke holes in plenty of the details (a promotion announced with a photocopied memo?), but there’s a lot of reality portrayed here. I plan to keep watching.
What did you think?
