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The Bastards Among Us

Have you ever taken a picture of your clients sweaty ass crack?

I havent but I know someone who did. Ive seen the photo. And yes it was quite frightening but not for the reason you might imagine.

As the story was related to me the agency once had a client who was a large dude. Like 6foot1 350 pounds. A lumbering stumbling man. That frame coupled with his perceived lack of marketing knowledge earned him the nickname Fat Bastard around the agency.

Well Fat Bastard had to attend a TV shoot in Orlando. Outdoors. In July. This recipe for perspiration caught up with the man so much that the dripping sweat was visibly apparent through the rear of his khaki shorts. Thus an embarrassing moment turned into a Kodak moment for an agency lackey with a camera.

This clients reputation for heft and sweat was the subject of frequent agency coffee klatches. Whats more the agency staff was egged on by the agency CEO and Creative Director who not only tolerated but also encouraged the mocking. And Fat Bastard never had a clue what was being said about him. Whats more with his trusting nature he thought so highly of this agency and its people that he continued to give the agency marketing projects even when he switched jobs.

This agency is still in business trying to woo more clients and develop a reputation for great ideas and superior client servicedespite a corporate culture that openly disparages the personal appearances of others including the very clients who pay their bills.

Ill bet a lot of agencies function with this kind of culture. Yet we wonder why the advertising industry doesnt get more respect.

So what kind of behavior is out of bounds? How can some of our dealings with coworkers and clients be deemed professional when at other times we act so unprofessional?

Ive worked in agencies where routinely Ive heard comments that would make for readymade harassment and discrimination lawsuits in any other corporate environment. Ive always accepted that an almost anythinggoes environment is a part of the Faustian bargain one makes in order to work in a comparatively freewheeling industry.

We work in a business of ideas and thoughts where bad taste is often celebrated even financially rewarded. We cross the line whatever that is with glee. But crossing the line as the ad industry sees it doesnt just apply to ads and concepts. Its part of daily agency office life isnt it?

Were always going to have coworkers and clients who get on our nerves. Since advertising depends on a high degree of interpersonal collaboration friction is inevitable. Add time crunches and lessthanideal clients to the mix and youve got a recipe for an environment of petty squabbling subtle backstabbing and frequent bitching. It seems like a primal rule of agency politics that you have to tear someone else down in order to build yourself up.

Everybody is susceptible to these base instincts. And if the future of advertising is socalled branded entertainmenti.e. The intersection of Madison and Vine well be pretending like the ad business is more Hollywood that it really is. Well be taking more of our behavioral cues from Swimming With Sharks. Thats not a future Im looking forward to. Are you?

Whats it gonna take for us to curb this behavior? Were all guilty of it at one time or another. Me all I can say is Im working on it. Trying to stay positive whenever I can.

What about you and the people you work with? So your ass isnt sweaty today. Doesnt matter. Perhaps someone right now is calling you Skinny Bastard. Or Bald Bastard. Or Gay Bastard. Or Jew Bastard. Or Irish Bastard.

And unless we all change the public perception will always be that the ad business is nothing but a bunch of bastards.

About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Branding. Religion. Censorship. Office politics. Global politics. Sexual politics. And getting drunk during a job interview.
Since 2002 Danny G. a.k.a. Dan Goldgeier has been writing the most provocative advertising columns ever published. They’re all witty thoughtful and probing and a must read for those who want a perspective rarely seen in traditional industry publications.
An Atlantabased copywriter and ad school graduate Dan has worked at shops big and small. He reads incessantly about advertising and is a whiz at rock roll trivia. Learn more about him by visiting his copywriting website or AdColumnist.com the View From The Cheap Seats Archive website. You may also find articles by Danny G at TalentZoo.com.

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