Art & Copy: The ultimate wake-up call to stop drinking the Kool-Aid

The good people at Netflix finally sent me the “highly-acclaimed” documentary Art & Copy, an “insightful and revealing look at the cutthroat world of advertising and the creative geniuses behind the ads that shaped our culture.” As with most things in advertising, overpromising and under-delivering is the name of the game… and this doc is no exception.

Rather than go into an extensive review, let me just share my thoughts with a rudimentary SWOT analysis:

Strengths:
• You see some cool ads, albeit the same ads you probably saw back when you were in business or art school – Volkswagen? Check! Macintosh? Check! Nike? Check! What about the new stuff that’s out there? [crickets chirping]

• The single intelligent insight of the film is offered by Mr. Silverstein, of agency Goodby-Silverstein. His vision for the future of media and ads: People will become networks in and of themselves. NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, and the like better watch out. Of course, we’re already seeing this happen with Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc. Interesting.

• Some worldwide chief creative officer from some big NYC agency waxes nostalgic about how agencies used to be run: the big boss client did business directly with big boss agency guy. Today it’s all about the junior marketing dude playing tag with the recently graduated MBA executive. This means more layers, which leads to increased inefficiency. Another interesting nugget.

Weaknesses:
• This is not a documentary. This is 90 minutes of self-congratulatory banter among industry vets whose egos are larger than their “groundbreaking” ideas. Who knew the Me Generation is actually made up of Baby Boomer burnt-out hippies? These people cannot stop talking about themselves and their greatness.

• A documentary is supposed to offer information and make a statement, or at least engage the viewer and challenge them to draw their own conclusions. Not here. No facts, no substantial data, no information, nothing. Just ad legends talking about the “good old days” and their personal greatness.

• Did I say the film runs 90 minutes? Well, only the first 45 minutes are worth watching. In fact, I was falling asleep toward the end not because I was tired, but because it got boring. I can only take so much of people talking about themselves. I have to put up with enough of that crap at the office.

Opportunities:
• This could have been a proper documentary, not a back-patting fest. Love it or hate it, advertising is a dynamic field with a rich albeit short history, and the producers totally missed the chance to dig deep and explore the intricacies of this unique biz
o is advertising science or art?
o what makes creativity work?
o why do some strategies work and others not?
o what makes an ad good or bad?
o if the public is so sick of ads, why does the business continue to grow so fast?
o what impact has advertising had on the cultural landscape?
• These are just some of the many issues that could have been addressed to give the film some heft or a hint of credibility.

Threats:
• The film was a total rude awakening. I’m sure the intention was to show how cool the ad biz is, but what it actually does is show us an industry made up of asshole people swimming in their own arrogance and delusions of self grandeur. Every story, even a documentary, has a feel-good character, someone or something you can identify with. In Art & Copy, you just loathe the “captains” of Madison Ave. Each and every one of the people interviewed is a jerk, totally unlikeable and impossible to connect with. These are not people you sympathize with or feel for.

• For the layman, the film confirms the long-held stereotype that ad people deceive others for a living. Well, listening to these guys, it’s true. It’s so true, in fact, that many of them admit that after having spent their lives in the biz, they are STILL ASHAMED, even embarrassed of telling people what they do. I guess you can bullshit the bullshitter indeed.

• The overall threat is that if you parade this film to your non ad friends, you may come off as just a big an asshole as the people featured here.

• However, the biggest threat of all: You may get the impression that creative genius knows no budgetary limits. Every ad that they put up as an example of greatness is, of course, an expensive ad. No one ever bothers to mention what happens when the client wants a $500,000 campaign for $1,000 or, heaven forbid, a $300 logo.

If you MUST see Art & Copy, at least consider yourself warned.