Why Art & Copy made me feel ashamed of working in advertising.

First of all, read two posts down if you are starting on this one. It's important, since my good man RestrictionsApply just basically ripped this documentary a new one. When you are finished, come back to me. Thank you for shopping at WAS.

*Waiting for you to read Restriction's Post*

Ok, you done? Bravo. Let's continue the conversation. The same thing with me. I even streamed the darn film because I wanted to see what the fuss was about. I mean. A documentary about working in this business? Whoa! About damn time! I was very curious.

Fuck. Was I disappointed.

Art & Copy is one of those movies that just simply miss the mark, terribly. Why? Oh, I'm going to TRY to be brief, since when I finished I went into an anger rampage that continued over 48 hours. So let me give you my beef, if you will.

What was I expecting that I would see in this film? Reality.

Working in this crap business is really tough. Your brain fries itself at least three or four times a year. And bad. Really bad. You think so much, you look at every nook and cranny of every idea you get wasted at some point. The long hours. The insane lifestyle of alcohol. The people who get paid shit. The people who stay there and work for three days without leaving the office. I wanted to see the good and the ugly.

NOTHING, not a single side of any of those ugly things about advertising were shown! It's like that's the bastard side of the biz and no one accepts it! WTF!

By some sort of magic, the film convinces average joes that this is fun all the time and that we enjoy every damn second of it. More insulting is the fact that by watching this film you sort of get that clients approve every damn idea that comes their way. NOT TRUE! Oh and don't get me started on budgets! Sure Fucko, you can do amazing campaigns with millions of dollars. Try 50k buttmuncher! Let's see you congratulating your ass for an average typographic campaign!

The most amazing and really scary thing about this movie is... ad people are old and still are doing this crap. 50 year old after 50 year old, talking about how amazing their old campaigns were (anything new, guys? Um... nope) and how they still are enjoying this business. WHY ARE YOU NOT RETIRING? Have any of you seen your kids? Your husbands? I refuse to end up like you, getting a damn brief and starting that old boring cycle. Jesus. How uninspiring that is!

Another beef? The basketball court, the rockband nights, the cute and creative offices. Yeah. That shit works when you are twenty years old. You drink the Kool Aid a bit and suddenly you think it's so cool to be at a company where some idiotic sport is not a problem. But the movie does not tell the average person that this is all to make you work harder, stay longer...I can bet you all the money that I have that these places are not being used. Movie purposes, sure. Cut and everybody just went to their cubicles to find that witty and engaging line of header.

Old Ads! How can I forget! Really old ads! Like RestrictionsApply said in his post, this movie is chockful of old campaigns that were cool at that time... but really, we kind of get it now. If someone else tells me how cool the 1984 Mac ad, I will take out my ovaries with a Magic Bullet. Don't make me, dammit!

Wait. If this is a documentary... where is the chapter on how to get creative, how to develop and evolve your thought process... What do you need to stay in shape upstairs in that grey matter? What do we need to read, write, paint, hear? NOTHING! You get absolutely nothing. It's "I'm amazing, I did this shit and that shit, my agency is the bomb and I have a bigger donger than anyone else. Oh and every other advertising that my agency DOESN'T do, sucks balls."

Well, you know what? Fuck. You. Many people don't have the millions to do any of those old campaigns. Or even the new ones. There are thousands of us who are working with peanuts for a budget and still make it possible to sell. Sometimes we are creative. Sometimes we suck. But both times, we sell. And the great part is? We're doing this so we can make some dough and we can retire, because WE DON'T want to end up like you, rotting in your very creative office with a view. Oh! And some of us don't really need to play frisbee or tune up the Rock Band... because we want to work so we can leave early. What a novel idea, right?

Look. At the end of the day, there are two reactions to this film. No grey lines. If you love it, by all means, enjoy the feeling. This means you really really love what you do, and that's admirable. It can also mean that maybe you are starting out and have much experiences left to live. Nice. Go forth and conquer and see you in 20 years.

If you hated it... welcome to our club of people who really really know... we're not curing cancer, we're not making art. It's just an ad. It's just a job. Period.