The other day I received a number of messages from various colleagues commending me on having done a good job. The particulars aren’t important to this discussion. Nor, I suppose, is the fact that it happened to me. I do not mean to toot my own horn!
But getting those compliments inspired me. Therefore, receiving kudos from one’s peers is what this post is about. Such a simple gesture saying “nice job” but it is one we often forget. As colleagues, bosses, partners we seldom offer congratulations. I don’t think it’s because we’re insensitive jerks. Not all of us. My theory is that so many of us are busy chasing deadlines and putting out fires that we don’t give success the same attention we give peril. Sort of a twist on the old saying about TV news: If it bleeds it leads. Or the squeaky wheel gets the oil. I fear this is also how we (I) can be as parents. Count how many times a day you admonish your children versus complimenting them. See what I mean?
A shame. Because receiving a pat on the back feels pretty damn good. Especially, come to think of it, when most of our days are in fact spent chasing deadlines and putting out fires!
Alas, I’m afraid good effort (from others as well as from ourselves) is taken for granted. “It’s just doing the job,” we might say… if we say anything at all.
On one level that is understandable After all, we get paid to do a good job. Having done so do we now expect a medal? Of course not. But I bet we’d really like it if someone noticed. I know I certainly did.
In Adland, there are too much politics and Schadenfreude. We creatives are insecure and defensive because our work is always being criticized. Account people grow resentful because their efforts are rarely appreciated. Saying thank you and nice job could easily right these ills and so many more. And unlike titles, respect and validation it cost nothing to give. Food for thought during austere times.
Oh, and lest the receiver of such praises forget: Say thank you!
“Funny, I don’t feel in good hands.”
Much has been documented on the correlation between mental illness and creativity. The starving artist is an unfortunate cliché. That he or she will be tormented by demons seems almost necessary, par for this particularly hazard-ridden course.
And so, as a young man, I wondered if by choosing writing, and then copywriting, was I in turn dooming myself to a life of anxiety and depression? Would misery be my price for creativity? Despite any worries, I was not deterred. Even then, few things satisfied me as much as the creative process. It was easy dismissing morbid thoughts while in the midst of creation. Bit puzzling during down time but that’s what drugs and alcohol were for!
If artists and writers tend to be happiness-impaired then I think it’s fair to say so are many art directors and copywriters. For better and worse, do we not share the creative gene? Carry the argument one step further and a bittersweet irony emerges: that the advertising we make is shot through with optimism beyond what permeates the real world, especially ours. The myths we create for our clients are almost always universally positive. We bring good things to life, even if, as copywriters and art directors, we lead lives of quiet desperation.
Poets can wallow in their misery, the satirists their cynicism. Painters express themselves however they see fit. But except for the Rogues Gallery copywriters and art directors have no such outlet. Our clients demand jubilant creative. If our work demonstrates a problem it is always followed by the solution. Has to be, for that is the definition of advertising. As Dan Draper said to one of his staff, “We don’t create anything. We solve problems.”
Surf the trade blogs. Much of it is angry and critical. This agency sucks. So does that campaign. Fingers point far more than thumbs go up. We don’t appear to like one another. We often don’t appear happy. I know bad news travels faster than good. If it bleeds it leads. But sometimes I wonder: Are we really just miserable? And then the irony…
A copywriter cries himself to sleep at night but everyday he’s “lovin’ it” for McDonald’s. An art director suffers from serious abandonment issues but advocates were “in good hands” with Allstate. And so on. Happy thoughts created by sad people.
And so I ponder creating all this delight… Does perpetually finding the bright side make us cynical? Or can the power of positive thinking eventually imbue us with happiness? Is it all bullshit and who cares? My answers: Yes. No. Maybe.
Yes, I’m generalizing. Not all of us are miserable. But then, not all of us are creative. Have a nice day ☺
Thank the Gods of advertising it’s Friday. Previews of coming attractions!
September 18, 2009
Gentle Readers-
Normally I like to post Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Not only is it good discipline for me but it spreads the week out nicely. In any event, agency obligations (aka my real job) were overwhelming this week and I’m unable to provide a piece for your Friday consumption; that is, if you don’t include this one!
However, I’ve got a few doozies planned for next week. Leading off with another infamous mea culpa. My digital screw-ups always prove popular. Ah, schadenfreude! In any event, Gods of Advertising is nothing if not a learning experience. Monday’s tale will be no exception.
Then I’ve got a real surprise. I’m launching an online art gallery and anthology for copywriters and art directors by copywriters and art directors. Its sole purpose will be to showcase what creative advertising people make when they’re not making ads. A dream of mine for years, I resuscitated the concept based on new opportunities for it online. I’ve been working on the prototype for several weeks now, writing and tweaking the content, playing with formats and acquiring submissions.
Much more will be revealed next week but if you want to participate –site unseen- please send me a poem, a short story, a photograph or a piece of art. The only requirement is that you be a creative advertising person and that you created the work. Please provide your name, current job and a few words about the piece. Send jpegs, PDFs or Word documents to me, at Steffan1@rcn.com. Don’t worry about formats and don’t be shy. PS: we could really use some poetry and photography.
Finally, in the wee hours last night this blog received it’s 100,000th visitor in 2009. Not big numbers if you’re an advertiser but pretty effen good if you’re me! Thank you so much for your readership and continued support. And I’ll see you next week.
This recession makes being me less excellent.
Many of us used to relish Donald Trump firing dumbstruck contestants on the Apprentice. Or Simon eviscerating some hapless warbler on American Idol. We take delight in watching the Simpson’s Montgomery Burns humiliate and then extricate his subordinates, often down a secret hole in front of his desk. Nelson, the “Ha-Ha!” bully is another Simpsonian example. There is brutal comedy in the misfortune of others. The Germans have a word for it: Schadenfreude. (To be precise, substitute the word “pleasure” for “comedy.”) Either way, it’s an unfortunate, even barbaric, part of our humanity.
And it often flourishes like mold in the hallways of Adland. If/when one agency hears of another’s misfortune we cheer. In bigger agencies, creative groups on one floor often compete and root against creative groups from another. Internet trolls constantly throw stones at wounded agencies and their people. While most aim at management, the torpedoes invariably end up hurting massive portions of the ship, not just the bridge.
I’ve written about this before. But that was before the recession. With few agencies exempt from its grave fallout, I doubt anyone is gleeful over much of anything right now, let alone another’s misfortune. That tipping point came and went. With people –good people- disappearing from our ranks it is as if a plague were let loose in adland…the whole damn country! Whereas we once morbidly watched as our comrades were marched out the door, thinking “not me, never me” now we cannot help but see ourselves in their shoes.
And yet pain like this can provide our most teachable moments. There is a silver lining. To coin another phrase: the show must go on.
Therefore, those of us who remain pick up our games. If we are good we become great. Considering the alternative, we must. We also count our blessings. We learn humility. We let go our resentments because they feel especially vulgar right now. While veins of meanness run deep on the Internet, not so much in the hallways of Adland. There is less complaining about partners and bosses. Fewer requests for money and titles. Less Me. More We. What we have (peers, clients, job) is far more important than what we don’t.
Guess what folks? It always was! But we forget. Until the pain of others reminds us. Humility. Gratitude. Fortitude. If we acquire even a little grace during these difficult times, something good has come from it.
The Happy Soul Industry
The Last Generation
Gods of Advertising 