By Patrick McNerthney
I happen to have quite a few peers who work for advertising agencies as writers. Or at least they started out as writers. But now, thanks to an evolutionary theory called “career advancement to make more money,” they manage other writers, designers, clients (groan), and marketing strategy.
Bummer.
It’s way easier to have some smart person above you who just tells you what to do instead of having to BE that smart person telling others what to do. But responsibility tends to track down and adhere to those who want it the least…which is exactly what happened to these poor saps. Plus, eventually one must move out of one’s cozy (dumpy?) apartment and buy a house or a condo and otherwise pretend to be an adult. Or so I hear.
(I’d never join a condo association that would have me.)
Anyway, these folks I know are superior writers and incredible thinkers. Any one of them could write a great book or screenplay or TV sitcom, maybe even becoming famous in the process. But that’s a tough way to develop a stable income, so they wound up in advertising.
No problem there, except, ironically, when one works in advertising, it’s natural to become afraid. That’s because when creativity becomes a business it kills the magic. Clients ostensibly hire colleagues like mine to connect customers with products or services through ideas that stand out and even (gasp) push the boundaries. But in the process, clients have so much at stake (money + status) they grow fearful that the advertising folks they hired will offend somebody. So clients tend to strip away anything that’s actually unique or remarkable, and the result is the boring, crappy messaging we’re inundated with every day.
(Yelling it louder doesn’t make a crappy message better, but they always try.)
Oh! And to do this, clients hold hostage the massive amounts of money they pay agencies, so the game becomes, “Do what the client wants, or don’t get paid.” Thus, instilling fear.
But don’t you go worrying about my pals in the biz—they know the deal, and they’re good at navigating this craziness. Most importantly, they know that creativity always finds a way. Eventually there will be a client who wants to effect real change for their customers, and those clients know change is only possible by creating something remarkable. So they track down and hire the best in the industry—my colleagues—to get the creative job done.
Over to you. You may not know it, but creativity is ALSO the best way to effect real change for your residents and loved ones. That’s because the parts of the brain that fire up from the act of simply making reconnect the elderly, children with challenges, and anyone needing help with life’s daily tasks with joy, self-worth, confidence, hope, optimism, a sense of community, and the belief that they matter. All of which are the perfect antidote to the anxiety and depression your residents and loved ones experience because of social isolation. Here’s more good news: Fine Art Miracles (FAM) has this antidote ready for you, right now.
Check out FAM’s Art Therapy, Music Therapy, Drama Therapy, Dance and Movement Therapy, Multi-Sensory Sessions, and Art2Go packages, then drop FAM a note or give them a call and they’ll explain in more detail how creativity always finds its way, especially for those who need it most.
Whelp, that’s enough lambasting of advertising agency clients for today, not to mention businesses in general. Surely there’s somebody else doing dastardly deeds that I can pick on … hmmm, I wonder if the people running the garbage companies in Seattle are secretly in organized crime. I better go sniff it out!
