The Doctor Is In

What if a cure for cancer already exists? And what if it is not conventional? What if it was discovered by an African American research scientist? What if he had an idea but it was ignored and he believed in it so strongly that he left the large research company he worked for and went to a smaller place where they allowed him to follow his intellect? What if the small research firm isn’t invited to medical symposia and aren’t asked to present papers and can’t get their findings published and are not funded for clinical trials? I’m just saying.

I Repent.

Today is Ash Wednesday. For those who took Fat Tuesday seriously it is National Call In Sick day. For those who are a little more devout it is a day of repentance leading to 46 days of reflection before Easter. It is traditionally called the Lenten season. I did a little soul searching this morning. I asked myself what, in this advertising career that has lasted for more than 26 years, do I need to repent for doing?

The first one is easy. I worked on Wild Irish Rose. WIR is a low-end fortified wine. This category boasts wines that contain up to 20% alcohol by volume. They also usually contain , as did WIR, sugar, artificial color and flavor. They are generally used to cause drunkenness. Other category players are MD 20/20 (aka Mad Dog), and Night Train. I found out I was pretty good at marketing. Sales exceeded 2 million cases for the first time and kept going. I hated it. I felt I was part of the problem. I'm sorry I did it.

The second is, I wish I had spoken up more. Advertising is full of a lot of smart people. So smart they easily fall prey to bad traits like hubris and insensitivity. I wish I'd been brave enough to really confront some people that earlier in their careers may have had a chance to consider and change their ways. I didn't do it. They didn't change and our industry is worse for it.

There are more things I've done I'm not proud of. I'm not willing to share them publicly. Frankly, they are not your business and this isn't a confessional it's a blog. But there is one more thing.

I'm sorry I didn't make the decision earlier that I'm making now. From this point forward I pledge to be perfectly and painfully truthful with clients and staff...to call it like I truly see it. To do my best to create an environment in which I don't ever have to be ashamed I didn't say or do something that needed to be said or done.

Now I have to go. I have to tell a staffer what I really think about their...

Adscititious

A football game…or to sports fans, the football game surrounded by as much hoopla as a network can fit inside, over and around a stadium. Ticket holders have to navigate a carnival of sponsors booths and pop-up retail stores. Enterprising vendors hawk badge holders and souvenir pins for your badge holders. Once inside you don’t know where to look. There is a sea of color everywhere. Before the day is over you’ll be subjected to jet formations flying overhead, rock bands, celebrities, confetti, fireworks and oh yea, a football game. But as much as going to the game is one of a kind experience, you are still missing a significant part of what makes a Super Bowl “super”. Those sitting at home know-- it’s the commercials. That’s right, the commercials. Sex, talking babies, talking animals, college humor, punch lines, sight gags and did I mention sex.

With up to 100 million people watching advertisers and their agencies pull out all the stops to make ads that will have impact. Experts debate their effectiveness. The media ranks them. There are even websites that catalogue, review and celebrate them. For my part, I hunker down with a wide variety of snack food and my favorite beverage (diet root beer) and take it all in. When I see my friends and family afraid to leave the room during the commercial breaks or laughing hilariously or even debating whether an ad was good or not; I look at that as job security. Great ads enter your brain at the speed of light, lodge in a place where they can be retrieved and relived but not erased. Great ads help companies grow and help insure that clients will take my phone calls.

I hope you enjoy the Super Bowl telecast on Sunday…the game and the commercials. By the way adscititious means "added to supplement". I think that describes the ads just fine.