I’ve been freelancing for the same client for quiet some time now – a year, to be exact.
But, as of Monday, I start working for a new client.
I’m nervous.
I’m nervous because I have no reputation with this client, I have to be at my imaginative best, I have to come up with work that’s original – maybe even groundbreaking.
With that in mind, it saddens me that when I scroll through this morning’s paper, I see this:
I bet you’ve already had enough. You may have even stopped reading.
Page after page of boring, ‘does the job’ ads.
They tell you the brand, they tell you the price/offer… and that’s it.
For some reason, the Virgin Media ad contains a random image of a seal, presumably to make it seem more creative.
What fun the copywriters and art directors must have had.
How I’d love to be able to work on just ads like this and still get paid.
Actually, I wouldn’t – I’d be bored stiff.
But when did advertising become so bland?
What’s happened to the great press ads churned out by powerhouses like AMV and DDB?
With page after page of Covid news, we could do with a little light relief.
In fact, even TV ads are dull at the moment.
I have a theory. I think that as Covid has forced us into lockdown, our spheres of influence have shrunk. Think about it – we’re not going out to museums or art exhibitions, we’re not going to plays or operas, we’re not socialising as much. We’re not even doing work journeys to take in the good and bad ads that are already out there. Our reference points have shrunk to the bare minimum – what’s in and around our homes. And as we go out less, that which informs our creativity lessens too, so what’s produced is just bland pap.
Hopefully I’ll feel a little more inspired come Monday, but I’d love to know; does my theory hold weight? What’s happened to creativity?