Over the years I’ve written about some strange beliefs some strange people have.
For strange people, read overly religious, bigoted individuals.
First there was the gum that claimed to stop you masturbating.
Then there was the soap that made you a virgin again.
Well if that wasn’t weird enough, I recently saw this …
Now that is some headline.
It’s a headline that commands your attention.
It’s a headline that demands you delve deeper.
And when I did, I discovered that – similar to TBWA’s current approach to disruption – I left feeling more repulsed than attracted to the cause or the topic. Have a read of this …
I have read this a few times.
And even now – as I read it again – I come away shaking my head in utter dismay and disarray.
Because while I appreciate the authors beliefs are her beliefs [even though I find them unbelievably condescending, patronizing and judgmental] I also think she is fundamentally wrong because I’m pretty sure the main thing young men look for in young women is a pulse.
I’m not saying that’s right but neither is this sort of blinkered bollocks.
But here’s the thing, as blinkered bollocks as this may be … there’s a bunch of people who not only believe this, but live by it. And our industry needs to acknowledge this reality, because while we can judge all we like in our personal opinions, we have to keep an open and curious mind to what’s going on in our professional lives, because real life is a damn sight more complex, twisted and confusing than the nicely curated versions of what’s going that we like to present to the World.
If great communication is about resonance rather than relevance, then knowing the weird is way more important than knowing the convention.