Below: Related Web pages | Info on John Follis Recently, I found myself in a room filled with a bunch of yo-yo salesmen. I'm not kidding. These people actually traveled the country selling yo-yo's to retailers. The big news at this sales meeting was a new toy. I'll just call it, The Gizmo. (I'll get sued if I reveal the real name.) The marketing director was up there in front of his team raving about The Gizmo like Knute Rockne giving a locker room speech before the big game. Everyone was cheering and clapping and getting all revved up, like this plastic toy was gonna save the world. It was a little scary. Who wants to be in a packed room with a bunch of crazed yo-yo salesmen? They probably knew The Gizmo wasn't gonna save the world. But they probably figured that if they could sell the crap out of it, it would save their jobs. No wonder they were getting so worked up. When millions of dollars rests on a new product intro, a TV rating point, or an ad response, you'll find out just how seriously people can take their jobs, even if it's hustling yo-yo's. In the agency business there's always pressure. The creative feel it to get great work produced. The account people feel it to keep their client happy and spending his money. The president feels it to be winning new business. The chairman feels it to be making a profit and keeping his Board happy. And the Board feels it to keep his stockholders happy. If you work in an agency, there's the additional pressure of unceasing deadlines, demanding bosses and corporate politics. And if the agency loses a client, which happens all the time, you could be out of a job. When people are subjected to that kind of pressure they can do some strange things. I once knew an art director who physically attacked an account exec with a metal T-square, just for being asked to make the logo bigger. There's a saying, "It's only advertising." It's true. It's not like finding a cure for AIDS. However, if you're serious about the business, and most are, it can feel like mortal combat. I've worked with many whose philosophies are Survival of the Fittest, and The End Justifies the Means. Somewhere there was some kind of survey done about which careers the public respected most. I'm not sure which ranked the highest, but I know "Advertising Executive" ranked somewhere at the bottom. I think it was between "Lawyer" and "Used Car Salesman." I guess the American public figures that being saved from Ring-around-the-Collar isn't like being saved from cancer or nuclear war. How soon they forget about those cute little Dancing Raisins. And Clara Peller and her "Where's the beef!" Don't tell me that didn't have some socially redeeming value. Even President Bush used that line. And does anyone actually watch the Superbowl for the game? But I have to admit, it does seem a bit weird when some woman working on a cure for AIDS is in some lab cubicle somewhere making $25K while the guy who came up with "It's Bubblicious!" is probably sitting in some corner office making a half mil. Hey, welcome to Mad Ave. Top of page | Related Web pages
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