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Sorry I’m so late on this Agency Wednesday. I had a Star Wars book day at the Hastings library and was so worn out from all the activities that I knocked the hell out early! Anyway, Jeff Goodby of Goodby, Silverstein, and Partners (Got Milk?, Hyundai, NBA “Only One”, Sprint) came to speak at Art Center today. A former board member of the school, he brought some insight in his company’s philosophy as well as some of his own personal anecdotes.
His most memorable today, being when he met the legendary David Ogilvy of Ogilvy & Mather (made famous by the “Man in the Hathaway shirt” campaign, Kraft, and Mattel) when he used to work at O&M. Ogilvy inquired how many hours he wrote each day. In which Goodby replied (as any good junior employee copywriter should at the time)–eight to nine hours. Ogilvy gawked at his response stating that he should be writing for two to three hours each day; the rest of the time finding things to write about.
So on that note, here are some particulars from the GSP library to take up some of that other six hours. Enjoy!
I need a laugh. Don’t you? I’ve heard so much about the U2 360 concert from friends recently, that I couldn’t help but think about this South Park episode “More Crap” with Bono in it. So for this Music Monday, I decided to post some of the highlights from YouTube user “DiiMES7AR”. Another great episode from the Emmy Award winning writers at South Park! Full FREE episode available for viewing at http://www.southparkstudios.com, or just click the link here. Enjoy and laugh out loud!
I run to live. Seems like nowadays that running is the only thing that actually cheers me up, believe it or not. I’ve been up trying to get some sleep for the past some-odd hour or so. It hasn’t helped. I’m going through a creative crisis right now amid all this drama with school. I don’t know if creatives will admit this or not, but sometimes I get into this rut, where I don’t have a damned idea in my head. So I run, in order to get my mind off of it being so fucking empty.
Which brought me to a thought that came to my head while running the Nike 10K on Friday. The thought was this: No matter what my time will be or how this all turned out, I know in my heart that I did my best. I didn’t stop. I may not have won, but I beat it to the end. I may have been tired, (Lord knows any man would be), but I never showed that course that I was hurt. I never gave it that satisfaction. And that, to me, is what counts.
This “It’s a wrap” comes one day early today. I’m running tonight at midnight for the Nike 10K, and probably won’t have much time to reflect as I need to rest up, then get up in several hours to run.
But to sum up this week–Did NOT have a good creative week AT ALL. Not even in the least. I feel creatively drained and I’ve been reacting and over-thinking the drama that’s been happening at school this year. I simply need to get my ass back in focus. Some good advice I heard about school drama was this–fuck everything else. Fuck drama. Fuck school. Fuck competition. Fuck everything. Because lots of things will always be fucked up. Just–WORK. When all is said and done, no one is going to remember how nice I was, but they will remember how MFn hard I worked.
So fuck it. It’s on.
I just started a new books page for anyone who wanted some recommendations on some good reads. I posted only a couple on here for now, but make sure to check in from time to time as I will try to update this list regularly. If you have any books that you would like to recommend, please feel free to email me at rdavid [at] inside.artcenter.com. Hope these help! –Cheers, Ray
Before TBWA/Chiat/Day asked you to “Think Different” with their Apple Macintosh campaign, DDB asked you to “Think Small” with Volkswagen. Doyle Dane Bernbach burst onto the scene in the 1960s. James “Ned” Doyle, Maxwell (Mac) Dane, and William (Bill) Bernbach put together a team of 14 and revolutionized advertising by pairing up Art Director with Copywriter. DDB is also known for the infamous “Daisy Spot” of Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 election race as well as Avis “Try Harder”, “Mikey Likes It” for Life cereal and “Real Men of Genius” by Budweiser. Today, DDB reportedly brings in $12.69 billion, the highest revenue in the world, according to Advertising Age (April 2008).
For more information on DDB check out:
http://www.ddb.com/
http://www.tribalddb.com/
Wikipedia Page
I like politics, I loooove capitalism! Probably just as much as I love advertising. I thought of something this week that made me laugh a bit–Lawyers are people in the profession of promoting and practicing LAW. Advertisers are people in the profession of promoting and practicing CAPITALISM. –or something like that…
I’m taking John Brumsfeld’s Advertising and Propaganda class this term (which I highly, highly recommend for academics). So with that in mind, I came across this old cartoon from the 1940s propagating capitalism and bashing communism (or “ISM”) with the USA’s very own John Q. Public (remember him?) Keep in mind, there is a shit storm of rhetoric and stereotypes in the piece, so take the message with a grain of salt. After all, no need for the Democrats in the house to get all offended an’ shit! hahaha
Could it be that Cadillac is opening up to get a little bit more hip with the release of its SRX campaign? Attached to the ad is 1901, the totally rad medly by none other than Phoenix off their album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.
In related news, Cadillac has put their account into review as of this month according to the Wall Street Journal. Modernista from Boston has bowed out of the running to compete for the business. So this may be the first and last time you see this ad. Peep the work:
Probably the most influential educational show of my childhood; I would wake up just to watch Reading Rainbow during the summer, or rush home immediately after school. The best part of the program was that it was commercial free and had sponsor pre-rolls at the beginning. From the kid announcer’s voice at the beginning, I would wait in anticipation for the show to begin: ” Reading Rainbow was made possible through a grant from Kellog’s…also brought to you with a grant from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting…” haha I’ve probably seen every episode! Here’s a blast from the past and an ode to Levar, all the sponsors, and the whole crew at RR who helped me discover the joys of reading. But you don’t have to take my word for it…
Probably one of my most favorite episodes:
RUN-DMC on Reading Rainbow…
Probably the first time I heard rap…
I’ll see ya next time!
It’s a wrap.
Week six already?! Time seems to certainly be moving quicker this term compared to others. I have a mid-term coming up in Physical Anthropology. It’s quite refreshing getting back to simple memorization and vocabulary. This week at the Agency found a new dialogue of energy than in prior weeks. We’re all pretty excited about the upcoming projects coming up. The Captain was sick again. We all hope he’s okay. And my work in AdCon3 has narrowed down to campaigning this entire week. For once, I didn’t go first with crits. This week begins week 7, and just like in prior terms it’s time to nut up or shut up.
My birthday is coming up. I’m want to go out for drinks and karaoke. We’ll see. Also the Human Race 10K will be quite extraordinary. That’s happening next week in DTLA at midnight. I hope I get a good PR time.
On that note, I’d like to share a bit of inspiration that I found this week on YouTube from “The Secret”:
Sometimes, I just get into these modes of listening to movie scores for inspiration. That’s right! Movie scores. To me, saying that music does not play its part in inspiration is like saying that man cannot walk, talk, or breathe. I’ve been listening to this score (endlessly) from the movie The Untouchables, a beautiful and powerfully grand theme, composed by Ennio Morricone. Hopefully it’ll inspire for this campaign I have for the City of Chicago. Close your eyes and click on the vid. What do you see?
Advertisers, comedians, and politicians alike reference the oddest things, no? Here’s a video I simply cannot stop laughing at. Again, thanks Scott. Hilarity! lol
To kick off the first “Agency Wednesday” I went with Arnold Agency in Boston, MA. Their client list includes the “Truth” campaign for American Legacy Foundation with CP+B, Amtrack, Carnival “Fun for all, All for Fun” campaign, Citizens, Fidelity, Ocean Spray, and Volvo just to name a few. Although their website hosts a slew of information from the work to their case studies and a glimpse into their company culture, what really got me was the intro paragraph:
“Hi. Welcome to Arnold. Well, our website anyway. Don’t know if you’re here looking for an agency that’s a great match for your brand, or for a place to work where you can make your mark on the world. Or maybe you’re just one of our parents trying to figure out what it is we actually do for a living. Either way, we’re glad you showed up. Feel free to peruse our website and play. Mi casa es su casa. ” – Arnold website
Sounds just like a home! Check them out at: http://www.arnoldworldwide.com
Lecture by Sam Martin at TED about the importance of manspaces.
I thought about these two gentlemen one night this week out of complete randomness. I guess my genie was whispering these names to me in my creative unconscious, somewhere. So on that note, on this here Music Monday, I’d like to revisit and introduce to some of you to the skills of the late Gregory Hines and the one, the only– Mr. Sammy Davis Jr. People we respect and admire as idols and friends are few and far between. Find yours.
