the ROCKS GLASS

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Jun 9
Like I said earlier today, Aaron Cathey is on an incredible roll lately. This tweet especially caught my attention yesterday because it closely mirrors a lot of what’s been going through my mind over the past few weeks. I’m at a sort of crossroads at the moment. I won’t call it burnout because I still feel like there’s more going on my mind than there has been in a long time. I might call it more of a moment of clarity mixed with an internal struggle. And, it manifested itself when I exclaimed to the entire creative department during an afternoon department meeting: I don’t give a fuck about advertising. I just want to make things that are cool and useful for people. I look into my Twitter stream and I see all my friends going on and on about the latest work from XYZ agency or wondering what shop is doing what work and blah blah blah1. The truth is, I don’t care about any of that. I haven’t cared about any of that in a long time. And, to a certain degree, I think it’s time that we all stopped caring about it. Last night, Trip and I recorded the 10th episode of the YET TO BE NAMED PODCAST and we talked about how the Internet in general has gotten us into feedback loops where we all arrive at the same thought points because it’s probable that we’re all looking at the same information day after day. The advertising community is definitely that way. We’re all looking at the same trade rags trying to keep up on the latest poop, and as a result we’ve homogenized ourselves. And, that’s why Aaron’s tweet hit home. Not only are so many in advertising full of shit, we’re all full of the same shit. It has to end, people.2 That’s why we need to stop caring. When we break those loops and start making original solutions based on thoughts that we came up with all on our own, it’ll be amazing what happens. I bet unicorns will start living with platypuses under a rainbow sky and we’ll see the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. Make shit that matters to you. That’s all that’s important. When it matters to you and it solves client problems in new ways, it’ll be great. I fully realize that this probably means you, dear reader. Please don’t take it personally. I still love you. ↩ And I have to end here too, lest I rant on for thousands upon thousands of words. ↩

Like I said earlier today, Aaron Cathey is on an incredible roll lately. This tweet especially caught my attention yesterday because it closely mirrors a lot of what’s been going through my mind over the past few weeks.

I’m at a sort of crossroads at the moment. I won’t call it burnout because I still feel like there’s more going on my mind than there has been in a long time. I might call it more of a moment of clarity mixed with an internal struggle. And, it manifested itself when I exclaimed to the entire creative department during an afternoon department meeting:

I don’t give a fuck about advertising. I just want to make things that are cool and useful for people.

I look into my Twitter stream and I see all my friends going on and on about the latest work from XYZ agency or wondering what shop is doing what work and blah blah blah1.

The truth is, I don’t care about any of that. I haven’t cared about any of that in a long time. And, to a certain degree, I think it’s time that we all stopped caring about it.

Last night, Trip and I recorded the 10th episode of the YET TO BE NAMED PODCAST and we talked about how the Internet in general has gotten us into feedback loops where we all arrive at the same thought points because it’s probable that we’re all looking at the same information day after day. The advertising community is definitely that way. We’re all looking at the same trade rags trying to keep up on the latest poop, and as a result we’ve homogenized ourselves.

And, that’s why Aaron’s tweet hit home. Not only are so many in advertising full of shit, we’re all full of the same shit. It has to end, people.2

That’s why we need to stop caring. When we break those loops and start making original solutions based on thoughts that we came up with all on our own, it’ll be amazing what happens. I bet unicorns will start living with platypuses under a rainbow sky and we’ll see the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.

Make shit that matters to you. That’s all that’s important. When it matters to you and it solves client problems in new ways, it’ll be great.

  1. I fully realize that this probably means you, dear reader. Please don’t take it personally. I still love you. ↩

  2. And I have to end here too, lest I rant on for thousands upon thousands of words. ↩

Posted 1 year ago

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