I pity the April's Fool

If anything is blatantly obvious from switching jobs, seeing new work dynamics and continually hearing from ad friends that are reaching breaking point it's that every day in the life of an Ad Person, it's April Fool's day and guess who the joke is on. Yeah I'm going to pussy bitch about the ad world because guess what, it not only makes me feel like I fight the system AND Sexually arouses me, but it also happens to feel as if I'm not the only one floundering in an industry that is so glamorously full of itself that it ends up sucking about half as much as working in Hollywood (sorry but any AD Prima Donna has shit on someone from Hollywood, because normal people know even the lamest of actors while the elite of the ad world escape the normal conversations of your everyday layman).

But hey, if I say I pity the April's Fool, then would this Imply that I pity myself? Not by a long shot. Not because I oh so love working as a copywriter and seeing WAY less than 1% of the profits I might help generate for a company, but because well at least I'm not as miserable as some other people that graduated from high school with me and yes, I actually took the time to compare and contrast the level of personal satisfaction with life that I have and though my greatest accomplishments are the next great American novel I haven't finished, the short story that didn't win anything in a literary competition I submitted and this blog, that's a good thing. Not only am I clear on what I should be doing and that I'm working towards that, but I'm clear that ad work is my day job and though that doesn't mean I'll ever half ass anything unless it's in the job order (and even then I’ll bitch as if it’s an Olympic sport and there's no tomorrow), I know this is my day job. I treat it as such and every day I'm more comfortable knowing my role in this bullshit industry. I'm clear that I can influence people and maybe in the long run be a decision maker, but I'm also extremely clear that most days I think what I do is kind of stupid even though it's supposedly an honest way to make a living (seriously, some of the adverts that end up being produced are a sham at best, though in our defense, it's because of the client monster more often than not).

Why am I suddenly so content? Simple. I've talked to so many people my age that have hit thirty or close to thirty and have realized that they have no clue what the fuck they're doing with their lives. They hate their day job and they're facing having to endure it for another 20-30 years because that's how things have to be for them and it's scared them shitless. I've also seen some people in the ad industry that treat their jobs like some ultra creative expression session with no sense of what strategy is and get pissed off that their Martian layout was canned for not being effective enough to sell the shitty dog food account they’re working on. It might look great but if in the end it's stupid or way too out there, just leave it in your portfolio. Oh that's another thing, I've made peace with knowing that my best work shall forever roam in my portfolio book and for today I don't mind.

Yeah, yeah, I can feel pride in building a brand, I'm not saying otherwise but I insist on downplaying it because in the end, 95% of the work we do isn't drafted for anything remotely noble or productive, and you know I’m being kind. Well productive it is in the Capitalist sense of the word because in the end, like it or not, advertising pushes sales and indirectly promotes the economy not to mention that since we can land semi lucrative to lucrative paying jobs we can ourselves waste money on designer T's, 100 books we'll never read and the latest trendy German DVD about the comedy drama of the lipsucked fat from a prostitute and how the cosmic energy of Xibalba formed it into the perfect human being, note that the DVD shall also be grossly overpriced for its content.

"But what about pro-bono advertisements?" you might ask. Well lets answer that one, it's still advertising, you're not doing anything physically involving yourself whole heartedly in a cause to promote something you believe in. Nope, you simply add the pink ribbon peripheral to your facebook and you suddenly feel like you've saved millions of lives. Oh might I add that you totally rock for having bought three (RED) t-shirts and that you need not worry yourself with anything else to maybe help someone in need. To clarify, I'm not saying stop buying the T's, I'm all for any type of pro-bono endorsement that makes a difference, just please don't act as if you're saving the world because honestly, some days I wake up and question whether or not it'd be better to just quit and do volunteer work. Then the sense of self takes a hold of me and I realize that like many people I have a personal agenda, and it isn't wrong, unwholesome or hateful, but I realize that though at some point or another I want to become more involved in helping the causes I think are worthwhile, for now I'm pleased to write a check and appreciate the people putting in the hard work and just maybe consider volunteer work.

Regardless, complacency is the word of the day because though Advertising Sucks it could be oh so much worse. This might seem like a sham but honestly, think about it, if you hate your office what would it be like in an accounting firm or a law office. If you feel too much pressure try to imagine what a broker feels like. If you think things could be worse realize that they actually COULD be worse.

But above else, never think your job is saintly and vividly engaging. It isn't. It's a job. It's the daily activity you do to produce income to pursue career development to attain more wealth and acquisitive power and that in the end, we're all fools not only for buying into the industry, but for not pursuing more satisfying endeavors and instead pushing for more success in an industry that quite honestly bones us dry. I'm sure some people might be reading this and waiting for an April Fools joke, but that's my April Fools, not doing one and just recognizing that though I'm a cog in a the machine of a bullshit industry, I can still be happy, and that in itself is enough of a joke to laugh at.

Regardless, hope April is a good month for everyone,

Cheers.
Joker