This is an absolute doozy … though I shouldn’t really be finding it funny at all!
So we are invited to a global pitch … a pitch that is worth more than the entire value of Australia [allegedly] … and various people have been working like idiots for weeks.
Finally, after pulling tons of data together, ideas together and heads together … everything is done, printed out and packed away – leaving the team leader to just get on a plane to the US and pick up the business, acclaim and fame.
HERE COMES THE FUCK-UP FAIRY MOMENT …
Unfortunately because the US Government are a bunch of paranoid red-tape-lovers, any visitor has to have a ’special kind of passport’ – one that has a magnetic strip so it will work with all their super-high-tech machinery.
And unfortunately for our ‘team leader’ [and us] their UK passport was issued back in something like 1874 … a time where passports were made of paper, not magnets … so when they turned up to the airport with their bags and a US$100 million campaign winning idea, they were politely told that not only would they not be able to get into the US [because of the ancient documentation] but they wouldn’t be allowed to even get onto the plane.
Goodbye $100 million … Goodbye USA … Goodbye Respect … Goodbye Career …
I love stuff like this [though why is beyond me] so yes … I’ve set up ANOTHER blog … where people can read / list their own ‘Fuck-Up Fairy’ moments – which shows both the laughter and the stupidity you get in this industry known as Adland.
You can check it out by clicking here.