Bob Garfield’s tenure as ad critic for AdAge is over. No longer will copywriters and art directors be able to shout at the site, saying, “what does this guy know about advertising?” after reading one of his scathing pieces. His departure from the column marks the end of the easiest kind of writing: looking at something and saying it sucks, or doesn’t*.
We reached out to AdAge yesterday for details regarding his future, and the publication’s Editor Abbey Klaassen responded today with a link to this post.
Garfield is not leaving the publication all together. He’ll begin penning a new column, “Listenomics”. He declined multiple requests for comment.
It’s no surprise that Garfield is stepping back from his column considering the tone of his book, Chaos Scenario (half off if you buy a case of 32!) — which basically says everything and everyone is screwed. Wait, how’d he put it? Oh yeah, “fucked”. At some point he must have asked himself, “what’s the point of writing ad columns if the industry is fucked anyway?” That or maybe there’s a conflict of interest in reviewing ads when he’s running a consultancy that may or may not be advertising-related.
*which is basically what we do all day!