Art & Commerce

As stated in my profile I am slaving away in the field of advertising. It's a good day job really. You get to meet all sorts of people, work on different projects each day, not very monotonous. Once in a while you encounter very interesting and talented individuals who have honed their crafts down to a science. They know what they want and know how to talk their way into getting it (spit for bucks is what i like to call it). You work with a producer like that and you're bound to get the job done in no time. No hassle for you and everyone else involved - from the clients down to the errand boys. These are producers and creatives who have worked in this field so long that they no longer try to deceive themselves that what they are doing is art. I mean, let's face it, there is no art in doing ads for fabric softeners and telephone companies. Doing t.v. and radio ads for insurance companies - how much more commercial can you get?

And then there are the noobs. These are advertising creatives fresh from college who come to the studio dressed like they just came straight to work after jamming with My Chemical Romance or emo-whoever. They walk around all hotshot and big-time...I've seen more than my fair share of their kind. I can see them a mile away. I've worked with them, and know how to work my way around them. They sit around talking about artsy-fartsy stuff...who died and made you film critics anyway? (c'mon,we're doing tomato sauce commercials here, not exactly painting the Sistine Chapel). Dissecting Hollywood blockbusters looking for morals and metaphors...please! They saw Amelie once and suddenly they're French film connoisseurs.

I really don't get it, how come they have the title of media/advertising creatives when the stuff they come up with are shite and uninspired - no semblance of a tiny drop of creativity whatsoever. Maybe it's just a term they coined for themselves.

Advertising is commerce, not art. So let's not kid ourselves. The sooner we accept that the better we'll do our jobs.