why advertising sucks
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Advertising sucks. Although it’s difficult for me to face up to the fact that I’ve wasted the last twenty years of my life, it's actually true.TRANSCRIPT
ADVERTISING SUCKS
Page 2www.copywritercollective.com
Although it’s difficult for me to face up to the
fact that I’ve wasted the last twenty years of
my life I have finally come to this very sorry
realization. At best it’s completely superficial
while at worst it’s positively damaging.
LET’S FACE ITADVERTISING SUCKS
Page 3www.copywritercollective.com
IN PRINT TODAY, IN THE BIN TOMORROW
How many times can you wrack your brains for
an idea, see it through to production and then
have it completely forgotten among the
thousands and millions of other ads that appear
every day? And, come on, most of the ideas we
come up with are just rehashing stuff that’s
been done before aren’t they?
Page 4www.copywritercollective.com
WORKING ON A PRODUCTION LINE
We all like to kid ourselves that
because advertising is called a
‘creative industry’ we’re just one
step away from being artists and
having our work immortalized as
though some great contribution to
mankind’s collective awareness. But
we’re not really artists. We’re just
factory workers pumping out
derivative ideas that nobody really
cares about.
Page 5www.copywritercollective.com
At the end of the day our job is to encourage people
to buy more stuff whether they need it or not. And
the more that people buy the more they throw away.
We are contributing to a throwaway culture and
heading toward the time when the world will be one
huge landfill site. (And it’s not just the land we have
to worry about. There are also horrendous
phenomena like The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
TURNING THE WORLD INTO A GARBAGE DUMP
WASTING NATURAL RESOURCES. GENERATING POLLUTINON.
Page 6www.copywritercollective.com
The other consequence of stimulating
consumption, of course, is the destruction of
the earth’s valuable natural resources. All those
products we’re encouraging people to buy are
using up irreplaceable raw materials while the
production processes (not to mention the end
products) are generating more and more
pollution. Without exaggerating, we’re talking
the end of the world here.
CHANGING CULTURE
Page 7www.copywritercollective.com
Even more scary than changing the environment is the
fact that advertising is actually changing the way people
think. Instead of being satisfied with just having enough
to live on people are now driven by the messages they
see all around them to want more than they ever needed
before. Not only that, but to envy those who already have
more. It creates a nasty, me-me-me society that I, for
one, don’t want to be part of.
Page 8www.copywritercollective.com
And we’re not just talking about the effect on adults
here. At least they have the opportunity – though
rarely taken – to say No and change their ways. But
kids don’t have that facility. Bombarded by
advertising telling them what’s cool and what’s not
they are strapped into the consumer gravy train
almost from birth, taking away much of the innocence
of childhood. Then there’s the
increasing sexualisation of childhood that’s especially
encouraged by fashion advertising which most right
minded people find absolutely abhorrent.
DESTROYING CHILDREN’S LIVES
Page 9www.copywritercollective.com
The worst thing about advertising and all the bad
things it’s responsible for is that you simply have no
escape from it. In most other aspects of life people
can choose the way they want to live but advertising
is everywhere. In every magazine and newspaper, on
every street, on every website and in between every
TV programme it’s there, constantly nagging,
constantly manipulating the way we think – whether
we like it or not. And never believe someone who
says “I’m not influenced by advertising”. We all are.
NO ESCAPE
Advertising is nothing short of brainwashing and,
while I too can’t escape seeing it all around, I can at
least say ‘enough is enough’ and stop contributing to
its seemingly unstoppable growth.
THANK YOU
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