5 Decades of Uniquely Canadian TV Ads
Our ever-friendly neighbor to the north, Canada has been grabbing its fair share of the global headlines lately. Letās
In my search for why there are so many jerk-comments these days, I found that the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory, or the Online disinhibition effect is partly to blame for this behavior. Simon White a.k.a Purplesime weighs in on it in this blog post "Don't feed the trolls".
Even Beyond Madison Avenue have "seen some pretty nasty and uninformed comments posted anonymously, on pieces we have written, as well as our colleagues on this blog and Digital Pivot, Beneath the Brand, and Flack Me." The comment-attack disease is spreading. I like the "uninformed" jab BMA made, as more often than not, these types of comments are. Though uninformed guesses can make a thread funny, like when someone insisted the Levi's poem was "a real poem", which spawned some poetic retorts. The thing is, it's not that I can't even say that I think a VO is heavy-handed without being dubbed a cunt that's bugging me here. It's that it seems to me we have lost or ability to engage in a discussion anymore. One that involves first reading (all) of what the other person says, then mulling those points over, and putting forth ones own thoughts. Whatever happened to civil discourse that was over 140 chars long?
As Simon says (heh), it's an opinion shared, and others may disagree. There's no need to call names or competitively measure award cabinets as a response.
Some of us have done amazing work and won a tonne of awards. Most of us have done good work that, for whatever reason, has not won every award under the sun; this type of work, Iād say, makes up a large proportion of the advertising world. Some agencies donāt even put work into awards. And just because no awards have been won that doesnāt make the work worse than, say, an ad thatās scooped several Cannes Lion, One Show awards, or D&AD pencils. (For the record, Iāve won a few awards and been a finalist for some big ones, but Iāve got a trophy cabinet that even lowly football clubs could better.)
But Iām proud of what Iāve achieved as a creative. Iāve won a lot of business in my time and that, I think, is just as worthy. You may disagree, and thatās okay.
I believe anyone has the right to critique. ANYONE. Opinion is what makes for a more informed industry. I may not like the offered opinion, but if I can have one, then so can anyone else. So those who say Iām bitter if I call out an ad I donāt like (anything with Star Wars in, recently, for example ā Vodafone and VW) or say how I would have done something different with the insight, you are very, very wrong. Iām not jealous, or bitter, or a hater. Iām giving my opinion and you donāt agree with it.
As Simon says (heh), it's an opinion shared, and others may disagree. There's no need to call names or competitively measure award cabinets as a response.
Some of us have done amazing work and won a tonne of awards. Most of us have done good work that, for whatever reason, has not won every award under the sun; this type of work, Iād say, makes up a large proportion of the advertising world. Some agencies donāt even put work into awards. And just because no awards have been won that doesnāt make the work worse than, say, an ad thatās scooped several Cannes Lion, One Show awards, or D&AD pencils. (For the record, Iāve won a few awards and been a finalist for some big ones, but Iāve got a trophy cabinet that even lowly football clubs could better.)
But Iām proud of what Iāve achieved as a creative. Iāve won a lot of business in my time and that, I think, is just as worthy. You may disagree, and thatās okay.
I believe anyone has the right to critique. ANYONE. Opinion is what makes for a more informed industry. I may not like the offered opinion, but if I can have one, then so can anyone else. So those who say Iām bitter if I call out an ad I donāt like (anything with Star Wars in, recently, for example ā Vodafone and VW) or say how I would have done something different with the insight, you are very, very wrong. Iām not jealous, or bitter, or a hater. Iām giving my opinion and you donāt agree with it.
As for the trolls: Dave Trott thinks you're a little child who can't stick to the topic and should be ignored, Johnny reckons trolls are uncreative, he's got a point, and Luke Sullivan calls it like it is: "anyone with personal integrity and a bit of calcium in their spine will publicly stand by and own an opinion they post, even if it is an unpopular one." I think a new generation, weened on the internet but have never seen Usenet, have lost the ability to discuss things. You can call me as many names as you want, my give-a-fuck-o-meter won't budge, all I care to talk about is the craft of advertising. You can join the discussion like an adult, or prove yourself unworthy.src="adland.tv/d-hominem-attacks-ad-critics-dave-trott-thinks-youre-little-child/1349802207">Dave Trott thinks you're a little child who can't stick to the topic and should be ignored, Johnny reckons trolls are uncreative, he's got a point, and Luke Sullivan calls it like it is: "anyone with personal integrity and a bit of calcium in their spine will publicly stand by and own an opinion they post, even if it is an unpopular one." I think a new generation, weened on the internet but have never seen Usenet, have lost the ability to discuss things. You can call me as many names as you want, my give-a-fuck-o-meter won't budge, all I care to talk about is the craft of advertising. You can join the discussion like an adult, or prove yourself unworthy.