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Aug 1, 2009 by Mark MaierInteresting MediaPost contribution from George Simpson called "Don't Blame You, Don't Blame Me, Blame That Fellow Behind The Tree". Simpson cites a quote that states advertising is the "makeup of the public face of capitalism" from....
"Randall Rothenberg, former journalist and current CEO of the Internet Advertising Bureau. "So any tension that people feel about capitalism comes right down to their feelings about advertising. If what happens in business offends them, the advertising gets blamed. If we don't like gas-guzzling cars, the advertising gets blamed, because it is easier to blame the advertising than it is to blame the millions of people out there struggling in Michigan building cars."
It seems that now that we?ve seen the up close ugly underside of the consumer-economy that has cost us much of our savings, in some cases our jobs and in all cases has brought to a dead stop the urge to buy a new car because the new-leather smell finally dissipated from the old one or to think it perfectly OK to spend $700 on dinner for four, we in the advertising business appear to have a self-image problem. Randy is not the only one who?s has gotten a little, shall we say, touchy about federal investigations, the usual low ranking in consumer trust polls, and the secret desire to be Don Draper.
Should we feel guilty for the extraordinary efforts we go to on behalf of our clients to understand human nature and how to prompt it to try a new brand or change from one it?s already accustomed too? I don?t know. We want our army to be the best it can be. We want our doctors and airline pilots to be flawless in their execution. We want our cops to be smarter and more facile than crooks who would harm us. We want our manufacturers to produce lemon-less goods. We expect our clergy to rise above the same temptations we yield to all the time. Who among us hasn?t sent back a main course not prepared to our expectations? Why then should we feel guilty because we try to do the very best possible job we can in this industry?"
Simpson ads that we need to grow up and take responsability for our own actions which means stop blaming everyone else for mistakes consumers make in buying or over-extending themselves on advertising.
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