RANT: I'M A "CREATIVE"

What I hate about advertising creatives.

Most creative people really aren’t all that creative. They think they are. They act like they are. They subscribe to the theory that if they look creative and act creative, then they must be creative. Quack like a duck and then you are a duck.

The reality is that creatives are so intent on creating ads that they forget that their mission is to connect with an audience and sell a product or service. Most of the time they want to create a funny headline or envision an interesting visual that makes their peers think they are cool for getting their client to approve the ad. In other words, they are too focused on the craft of making an ad and not about solving the marketing problem.

The drive to win awards and acknowledgement from ones peer group makes for a narrow audience. Not to mention that it is off target. It’s no secret that the categories getting the most accolades are products and services that appeal to 30 year old creative directors. Or ads that have an attitude that appeal to the same audience. That’s pretty hard to do for a dishwashing liquid. For this reason, award shows are not good for the industry.

In addition, advertising isn’t all that ground breaking when it comes to originality. Most of the ideas that drive a concept have been used in other mediums such as art, music or film. They’ve been stolen from these other sources. Or worse, they’ve been yanked from the pages of award show annuals. I will admit that appropriation is a time honored artistic form of sincere flattery. I just wish that it wasn’t presented in the form of originality.

There seems to be a closed-minded recognition of other people’s creativity. And yet, some of the most creative people I’ve ever met would not consider themselves creative. Because they don’t feel like they belong to the creative country club. The club that adheres to the title more than it does the output. It is this creative fraternity that needs to be smashed. It’s time to let the proletariats storm the gates.

But my chief beef is that advertising creatives fail to see that advertising itself is fallow ground. Do you really think you are creative? Take a look at what's happening in art, design, film and technology and then tell me that your work isn't derivative and formilaic.