MADC’s ‘The problem with bad advertising’ event with McCann Melbourne’s Adrian Mills a success

Last Thursday night, a sold-out house at the Local Taphouse was cajoled, threatened, enlightened, berated, pleaded with and most importantly, thoroughly entertained.

Melbourne McCann MD Adrian Mills took to the stage at the latest MADC Presents, the subject being The Problem With Bad Advertising.

And Mills told it as only Mills can. Unashamedly honest and upfront, he had a crack at many and gave plaudits to a few including his ex MD Russel Howcroft, who set him on the right path with the rather pithy summary: “Millsy, your clients love you but all your ads are shit”. As a self confessed lover of “The Colonel” KFC featured a few times in his critique as did the latest round of supermarket campaigns. As one would expect from the title, his talk was laced with hilariously bad advertising and contrasting good work. What came through strongest of all was Mills’ genuine love of creativity and his insistence that good can triumph over bad if we work hard enough for it. And that, he says, make it a pleasure going to work each day.