Art & Copy: insight into advertising

Written by Nicole Braseth Friday, 29 January 2010 16:47

logo_art_copy The Idea Market crew met up in downtown Edmonton this past Thursday evening to take in an Ad Club Edmonton and GDC Alberta North event: the screening of Art & Copy , a documentary film by Doug Pray about advertising. While the film compares numbers of the past with numbers of today (ie. in the 70's we were exposed to approximately 1000 ad messages a day, now that number is more like 5000), mostly it's a feel-good flick full of advertising players recounting anecdotes. While quite entertaining, does it say anything about where advertising is heading today? Not in so many words.

But there were definitely truths to be gleaned from the film and its 'characters', some about advertising and some about life...

• One agency claims a motto of "Fail Harder": the only way to success is to fail and fail and keep getting back up. This is juxtaposed with George Lois' statement that he has never failed. There is nothing you can learn from failing.
• When we do [advertising] well, it becomes art.
• It's deceitful to have a client dictate mediocre work in exchange for the paycheque. As creatives, we need to rise up and demand more from our projects.
• Find the product truth: that is how you successfully sell a product.
• I would rather deal with a tyrant, than a committee (committees are terrified to make hard decisions and always take the safe route).
• Lastly, directly from the director's statement on the film's website, "Hate advertising? Make better ads."

If you enjoy Mad Men (more than just the drinking before noon and great clothes, but the ad work), check out this film and take away with you the concept that to be great, you have to do big, bold things and not look back. To paraphrase Mary Wells: fear suppresses. Whether you apply that to life, or to business, you can be inspired by this film.