Trust Us, Real Advertising Agencies Aren’t That Interesting

I’ll be watching the new TNT show “Trust Me,” which starts next Monday. The New York Times takes a closer look:

“Trust Me,” previously called “Truth in Advertising,” is the brainchild of two former Chicago creative executives, Hunt Baldwin and John Coveny, who are co-executive producers of the hit TNT series “The Closer.” They worked, separately or together, at agencies like Leo Burnett, JWT and Y & R.
To publicize “Trust Me,” TNT is reaching out to Madison Avenue as well as civilians; a campaign includes advertorials in trade publications like Adweek in which Rothman Greene & Mohr is named “agency of the year” and the lead characters — portrayed by two familiar TV faces, Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanagh — are interviewed about their (faux) careers.

Obviously, it’ll be heavy on the invented dramatics. And I’m sure plenty of ad folks will want to pick each episode apart for realism. Have you ever worked at an agency that had enough drama, comedy or tragedy to make a good show?