Our headline may have promised a bit too much, but we do think readers will find this particular reddit thread interesting.
In response to a request for “dirty little (or big)” secrets from various industries, one user wrote:
“Advertising creatives. We don’t put as much thought into manipulating you as you might think. We just want to win awards by doing something interesting and cool. If you don’t get it, we don’t care. As long as the ad judges does.”
The rest of the thread devolves into a discussion about how terrible ads somehow make their way through the approval process and how much blame lies with the client (a lot) and the creative team (very little, of course).
One alleged freelancer explains that process:
“Client briefs agency to market product X, expecting two or three different approaches for a campaign. Agency thinks about it and develops different campaign ideas, usually working out an absolute favourite, route A. This idea is fun, creative, edgy, entertaining and basically incorporates everything the client deems far too risky. Agency knows this and then will add two other routes to the presentation, ideas B and C. These tend to be far more conservative and on brief, therefore more filler than killer. Presentation happens. Client picks route C mixed with elements of B and maybe a sprinkling of A. And that’s the clusterfuck you get to see on TV.”
There’s also some back-and-forth between a few self-proclaimed art directors, editors, and studio owners about why they stayed in the business (or didn’t). It will feel very familiar to anyone who’s ever clicked on this blog and scrolled down.
Here, for example, is part of a list of reasons to work in advertising:
“…wild parties, free booze, the freedom to wax about stupid shit all day…the unbelievable stories and intrigue and drama of official (and unofficial) office relationships…”
You get it. Not exactly revelatory, but the industry testimonials may amuse you for 30 minutes on a Friday.