“As far as I’m concerned, it’s a damned shame that a field as potentially dynamic and vital as journalism should be overrun with dullards, bums, and hacks, hag-ridden with myopia, apathy, and complacence, and generally stuck in a bog of stagnant mediocrity.”

Hunter S. Thompson wrote this, somewhat ironically, in a letter to the editor of the Vancouver Sun. He didn’t get the job he was asking for, but he got a different one. It was also a better one.

His words ring just as true for the Marketing/Advertising world. It’s an inward looking culture that has become a shallow meme of itself. The recession, such as it is, and the overall climate do no favors for those looking to make bold, innovative or interesting work relevant.

Instead, petty arguments by suits worried about offending possible clients or despairing bouts of manic re-writes obfuscate impactful images and neuter insights.  If the message is simple, clear and insightful, get out of your own way. Thompson might have agreed, if you could pull him away from the whiskey and the gun range. Come to think of it, maybe you should try following that example instead of another meeting.

Matt Cloud