The dreaded hallway test

Caffeinegoddess points us to this post on the The Advertising Hallway Test - where the bullshit observer describes it very well.
You know the one. It's when the client brings home the foamcore and prances it around his office to get peoples votes on which ad they favor. And then the client returns, picking the suckiest idea of the bunch.

1) Consensus isn’t compatible with quality creative work. Too many opinions dilute good ideas.

2) The context of the ad placement is half the experience. And the hallway test subject's ability to imagine themselves in the context is generally not as good as you might think.

3) Since they are fellow employees, subjects are too close to the product to view the work “objectively” (especially fellow marketers) Better to talk to “man on the street”.

4) The advertising’s number one job is to compete for and get attention. Not so in the hallway test.

5) Hallway people tend to gravitate toward things they are familiar with. Uncreative ideas do better in the hallway test. I don't know why.

6) They will try to impress the hallway presenter with their critical thinking skills. Critical = tearing down.

7) The hallway person is afraid of looking dumb. The surest way for that to happen is to say they "like it" when 9 other people might find fault with it. They start playing, "Find the flaw."