A Few Good Creative Men

The title of this post is actually the name of the video from YouTube that I’ve posted for your viewing pleasure. The video is actually a parody of a movie called A Few Good Men, starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore among others. I must say it is one of the few good (pun intended) Tom Cruise movies, back when he was very watchable.

If you’ve not watched the video yet, I suggest you do. Or if you’ve seen it before, just view it again to refresh your memory. The video pokes fun at the daily battle between creatives and suits. As funny as it is, the insights offered are very valid indeed. Here are some of the key learnings from the video:

  1. No matter how creative a suit thinks he/she is, the least creative person on the studio is more creative.
  2. A creative can become a suit (not that anyone wants to), but not vice versa.
  3. A bigger logo does not sell products… period.
  4. It’s a suits job to sell the creative, not direct the creative
  5. If a suit does not like an ad, he/she should pick up a pencil and write some ads

Just in case you are wondering, I have nothing against the AEs, AMs and ADs of the world. They do a very difficult job which requires tons of humility, patience and persistence. If I were an AE, quite a number of clients would have mysteriously vanished from the face of the earth.

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The Revolution Pt.1

The revolution will not be advertised.

The revolution will not make the art director swear any more than he already does. It will not make him tell his children (if he ever has a social life to have any) never to become a designer. It will not make him make revisions just to get the job out of the way. It will not make him want to claw his eyeballs out when the clients wants the creative to be more colourful. It will not make him tired, spent and suicidal by the time he is 35.

The revolution will not make the copywriter thinking of becoming a chef. It will not make him stay up late writing lame scripts and short stories. It will not make him regurgitate copy written for another client about 2 years ago. It will not make him a go-to guy to write proposals, letters, memos and whatnot. It will not cause excessive substance abuse to calm frayed nerves. It will not make him contemplate a move to the ‘other side’.

The revolution will not make the creative director re-hash the same concept over again for different clients. It will not make him think that things were better and the new blood are all shit. It will not make him sacrifice great ideas for client preference. It will not make him want to open a quiet little pub with his life savings. It will not put him through the misery of another pitch where his team is just there to make up the numbers. It will not make him curse the client behind their backs.

The revolution will not be advertised, because the revolution is alive.

To be continued… by the way, no gender bias intended.

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