Swimming with Sharks

You’re at a company Christmas party. The line at the bar isn’t that bad so you stand there waiting for some liquid softener to smoothen out the edges of the day. Then you sense something odd around you. You look at the crowd, a bunch of people wearing their Christmas best, but something is off… you can taste it in the air and your spider sense is tingling. You see your clients sipping on their wine on one side, their Bacardi on the other, and there it is… someone from another company just chit chatting with your client.

It’s no secret that advertising is a dirty game. It’s an industry where backstabbing is par for the course as long as it means the cash enters my agency instead of yours, but seeing it all in action is a little scary… like swimming with sharks. You know they’re not supposed to do anything, but after all, what’s to say that this is a graceful reef shark instead of the bull shark you suspect it to be?

Intentions get muddled with alcohol and false congratulatory remarks rain from all around. Suddenly you feel as if you have laser sights on your heart, or in this case, your left hip pocket where the cash goes.

This is advertising and apart from posturing and the ludicrous articles that say that everything is alright, this cutthroat business based on bullshit and creativity has no scruples at the end of the day. All it takes is one word, a comment or better yet, a reference to put your client’s decision of picking your agency in doubt.

So next time you throw a huge bash where everything is epic in scale and everyone is having a blast, just remember that looking over your shoulder, there is a shark thinking about when to bite.

Sweet dreams.