Ad guru Neil French on ‘scams’
May 23 2011, 1:12 pm | | 8 Comments
Neil French is asked about scam ads all the time. In this video he gives his personal opinion.
FRENCH TALKS ABOUT SCAM
Look out in July for French’s forthcoming autobiography, which is titled ‘Sorry for the Lobsters’.
8 Comments
Finally SOMEONE talks the truth…at least he isn’t a hypocrite like some very well known creatives and owners, who work overseas now and who openly criticize proactive work while having a heap of it emerging from their agencies and in their very own portfolios.
That’s brilliant. And he is right of course. We’ve all done one or two, and good luck to us.
Let me preface this by saying like most copywriters I’ve admired Mr French’s work since I started. However, there are a few serious flaws in his argument.
First of all, ‘concept’ cars. An obvious one. These cars are presented as ideas, never with the intention to be sold to the general public. And the high fashion he refers to is a celebration of an artform, not something you’ll see on the rack. The difference with scam is that is sold in under the guise of work that actually engaged with a consumer. That was never the intention of the examples he used to support his argument. Secondly, by supporting juniors who do whatever it takes to get scam through, you’re breeding a generation of creatives who understand advertising, and not much else. Personally, I like producing work that actually has an effect in the real world. And great creative work does that. It’s just much more difficult to realise. That’s what makes it so much more rewarding, and the creatives who believe it in, so much more employable.
Very good comments 9:18.
@9:18
It’s too bad that so many advertising creatives fail to understand the value of PR and what image can mean to a brand, and consequently, if only eventually to sales.
To say that ‘scam’, especially in the digital age where any interesting idea well executed can be spread virally to millions instantaneously, whether it’s commissioned and paid for work or not, does not “engage . . . with a consumer”, or at least have the potential to do so is simply ludicrous.
If as Mr. French suggests that the standard should be whether the work, and presumably its creator(s) get recognised, at award shows and subsequently in the mainstream press, then the creative quality of the work is all that matters, not how it was arrived at. So long as a brand doesn’t have the work pulled from the public arena for misrepresenting their product or damaging their reputation, at least in their estimation, then it’s advertising, and whether it’s created by a junior with little or no experience on his or her own initiative, or by a gaggle of seasoned and well compensated CDs, ECDs, Planners, Strategists, Suits, Writers and Art Directors through the arduous and often painful process of interpreting, managing, and executing the client’s needs and desires, in the end it’s just about the work and whether it strikes a chord with its audience.
That’s advertising, and should be recognised as such by all who engage in the pursuit, and those who love it, as well as by those who loathe it but are nonetheless influenced by it in more ways than they’d be capable of admitting.
Okay enough of all the pretentious wank. Sometimes we get so bogged down in shit, that we just wanna make something fun. So we do. End of story.
@6:30PM
Pffffft.
Just the kind of throwaway, weightless ‘Rodney King’ line that has a broad segment of the public ranking ad men, and women right alongside of solicitors, bankers, brokers, estate agents, and insurance adjusters for depth, integrity, and accountability. It’s no wonder clients have such a hard time trusting their accounts, their businesses and their livelihoods really to the likes of us.
Hey, whadda ya say kids, let’s just make something fun.
End of story indeed.
And THAT’S why He’s da MAN!!!!!!
So all of you ol bitter, twisted, whiny, “ooh no! the client will never approve this” people can just go and jump in the lake!.
Aghh! it’s like that mate of yours that ruined every James Bond film you ever watched by saying “Aww that’s sooo unrealistic”
Ok, now let me get back to my AMAZING Catalogue!