Ad perspective (fiction)

Dear Consumer,

The Advertising World has been everything short of mayhem for the past double digit years that I have been involved in it. I’ve lived to see the SLIM Awards progress to the more formidable Chillies. I’ve lived through all the cheering. The banners, the drinking, the pot, the applause, the trophies, the competition, the sulks, the glares, the market to market in-house affairs and relationships, the backstabbing, the clients who’ve been absolute bitches and the ones who’ve been down right difficult, to the crowd pleasers, the gems who’ve listened to a bit of advice from those who share expertise in the field and are willing to share a few tips to sway the made up mind of the clients who come to us with their preconceived notions that squares are actually circles in disguise!

Copywriters always come in for a bit of slack as do those in the accounts division who can sometimes be painfully slow in getting about their business (depending on where you work, ofcourse!). The graphics are always the creative minds who are content doing their thing as long as there’s good music, healthy deadlines and a smoke to get them through the busy day. I’ve seen complete eccentrics who are the artiest bunch in the industry go through intense emotional distress and blog about it to get through their moments and it’s scary seeing the depths of despair that they are flung into.

Is there a reason why it’s the arty, creatives who suffer as much as they do? They also happen to be the nicest. The one’s who’d be the first to stroke your head for you at the end of a long day or offer their arms in hugs when you’re going through a crisis.

And then we have the closets. People come in and go out of them with as less abandon as modern times would permit. The gays are widely accepted and gay pride has taken over us all, making some of us cast assumptions on the sexuality of others while others are content to simply mind their business and work on, being supportive of humanity in general and aware that right is right and wrong just isn’t. There’s more prejudice over people in general over some word outspoken than their sexuality. Nobody cares anymore. It’s no big deal.

Marriages are made and marriages are broken. Affairs are a plenty and divorce is on the cards for many colleagues who end up straying into greener pastures whilst getting themselves into deeper shits (pardon my French) than they envisaged. Yet others make marriages out of nothing and annul them within months without thought for the hearts that get broken at the otherside. There are times when accusations would run miles and bitching would take new heights that would put anyone to shame.

Take a step back and look at the ad industry and you’d see an overall degeneration of morals and basic human values. People take their own lives into their hands (which is their prerogative) but then they also take someone else’s life into their hands too. And they have the mob to support them whichever way it goes.

But then there is the nicer side to working in the industry. The camaraderie, the parties, the get togethers, the sing-a-longs, the jams, the nights of companionship with cups of coffee over a brief that ends up just about right by the wee hours of the morning – nothing beats the satisfaction of seeing something to perfection and giving it a quality touch.

At the end of the day, advertising can be a satisfying business. But sometimes the lives that we lead whilst in it can have us so lost and morally ambiguous, that our lives can see ruin at the end of the day, when we hang our boots and look back at the paths our personal lives have taken. That can be a sad story. And it’s my ardent wish that nobody ends up living to see that day.

Love,
Ad person