Filed under: 2026, A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Cannes, Cliches, Communication Strategy, Corporate Evil, Corporate Gaslighting, Creativity, Culture, Fake Attitude
That image is quite the devastating, destructive viewpoint isn’t it?
And I hate it because sadly – the vast majority of people who act like this – look like me.
Male.
White.
Privileged.
On the wrong side of 40.
Now there’s a big difference between looking the part and being the part – and I hope-to-fuck I only fall into the former category – but I have seen more than a few people develop increasingly arrogant, self-righteous, binary viewpoints in a bid to convince themselves they’re still important while trying to directly appeal to others in similar situations as them, so they can feel they’re still relevant.
I should point out this post is not about the people I discussed yesterday, it’s actually about Karl Stefanovic … the the ex-presenter of Australia’s Channel 9 breakfast show who, like many older, privileged, white men like Russell Brand and Elon Musk, has seen the commercial advantages of becoming a right-wing, racist, sexist prick.
That said, it we’re being honest, this sort of behaviour isn’t exactly foreign to a lot of people in our industry – especially when I recently saw a TikTok of a female influencer who had attended Cannes and said she had been constantly propositioned by men to ‘go up to their hotel room’ within minutes of meeting them.
I have been trying to find it again but can’t – so if anyone has seen it, can you please send it to me – but that aside …
What the fuck?
Seriously, what the fuck?
I know the ad industry – and Cannes – has a reputation for some less than savory behaviour but this shit??
Fuck off! Get a life! Stop thinking you have superiority that allows you to do whatever you want, free from accountability.
We talk about AI ruining our industry, but these fuckers are doing a much better job of it.
And what’s the betting many of them have daughters …
Actually, what’s the betting many would want to kill any man who said such things to their daughters?
Which is why maybe one of the best things the industry can do for our future is to elevate character to the same level as creativity … even though – as a friend of mine said recently – that would mean all the holding companies would lose their C-Suite overnight.
Allegedly, haha.
Filed under: 2026, A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Aspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Cannes, Clients, Collaboration, Conformity, Consultants, Content, Context, Contribution, Craft, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Football, Professionalism, Rigor, World Cup
Once upon a time, newspapers were dismissed as ‘tomorrow’s chip shop’ packaging.
Many would consider themselves fortunate to be described in such a way today.
Most people either see them as outdated, irrelevant or simply the play thing of the rich and powerful.
And while many are increasingly relying on ‘click bait’ headlines to drive any sort of reach and impact – occasionally, you read something where you just want to clap at the brilliance of the writing.
During the World Cup, I saw such a piece – of which the image above, is part of it.
It revolves around the ex-USA footballer and pundit Alexi Lalas and as character assassination pieces go … this is top tier, pro-hitman standard by The Guardian.
They’re not wrong either …
Though I couldn’t help think it could also be a description of 73.6% of the tech/consultant/holding company attendees at Cannes.
The people who speak with unshakable, absolute certainty, despite having never actually done anything of note.
Nothing.
And yet, that doesn’t stop them judging, passing-comment or undermining whatever anyone else does. Or thinks.
Or worse …
Claiming their approach is revolutionary when it isn’t, especially when you see the drivel that comes out the other end.
A perfect example of how gusto and blind confidence is destroying our industry by people who evaluate success by profit, not work.
Of course money is important but as someone once told me, “anyone can make money, but its what others experience and remember because of it that reveals whether you’re full of shit or not”.
There’s a lot of shit out there right now.
In very senior positions.
So here’s hoping it’s not just The Guardian who pierce the flimsy steel bravado shell of these big talking peddlers in the future.
Not because hate is good … but we won’t create the conditions for good to thrive again unless we start calling out and fighting for what is right.
You can read the rest of the article here.
Happy bloody Monday, hahaha.
Filed under: 2026, A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Cannes, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Music
I appreciate this week has had a lot of pissed off posts about our industry.
Or should I say, pissed off posts about the small group of people who manage to fuck our industry up in big ways.
Well, as its the last day of week, I thought I may as well finish it with one final rant.
I should point out none of this is because I hate our industry … far from it.
If truth be told, while there are many things that annoy me about it, I love it.
The creativity.
The possibility.
The imagination.
Advertising has provided me with a life I could never have dreamed of.
That’s not some vacuous statement, I mean it. It has provided me – and still provides me – with experiences, opportunities and people who have shaped, enhanced and educated almost every part of my life. I consider it a huge privilege.
And here’s the thing, I want others to have that too … because not only is it filled with incredible talent and creativity that can make a huge difference to what we can do, achieve and create for culture, colleagues and companies all around the world, but the more we provide those opportunities, the more our industry will be a beacon for greater talent, creativity and success.
Now, I appreciate for this to happen, everyone in my position needs to help make this happen … but by the same token, it should not just be down to individuals, but the industry as a whole. And frankly, for all the claims – I’m not sure if that is the case.
On one level I get it …
Times are tough and companies need to look after themselves, but with a blinkered focus on the present, we not only betray what we tell our clients to value, we create an industry full of interchangeable, generic companies and approaches … which is the fastest way to leave us far behind.
Which leads me to the point of this post and the choice of that image at the top of this post …
Remember when people used to say “I remember when MTV was about music?”
Let’s be honest, they weren’t wrong.
And while it took its time, MTV’s focus on the short term – regardless what it led them to do or become in the quest for cash, ratings or delusional importance – resulted in them no longer existing.
And why?
Because they had refused to acknowledge they were becoming the beast they were born to slay so eventually it reached a point where even the most blinkered company exec had to accept they were no longer relevant, interesting or culturally compelling.
Didn’t have to be that way, but they chose to stick their head in the sand rather than accept what they were complicit in creating.
And why am I saying this?
Because I remember when Cannes was about creativity and advertising.
Just saying.
Have a good weekend … hahaha.
Filed under: 2026, A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Aspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Communication Strategy, Complicity, Conformity, Craft, Creative Development, Creativity, Culture, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Egovertising, Experience
If you are going to read this post, please start by watching this clip …
I cannot tell you how much I love it.
Not because the speaker answers the question in a way that forces the entire audience to reconsider or re-evaluate their own perspective or judgement … but because I feel it shines a light on something we – as an industry – are increasingly failing to care about.
And that is, ‘do we like what we are creating?’
Don’t get me wrong, I know our job is to find a way to make audiences think or care about our clients in a way that offers them a commercial advantage … but too often it feels we’re ignoring the importance of whether ‘we like it’ in favour of whether ‘the focus groups’ and/or ‘research methodology’ does instead.
And while I fully expect many people will say, ‘who cares, the only people who matter are the customers’, you’d be wrong.
Not simply because it can feel you’re making work to please/appease the C-Suite more than the audience. Not simply because despite billions spent on market research [$150 billion in 2025], we still see high levels of underperformance when work is put out into ‘the real world’. But because if the people creating the work don’t find any joy in the work, then why the fuck do you expect anyone else to like it?
Actually, let’s go one step further …
If you don’t find any joy in what you’re creating, why would anyone else like it to the point they will actively choose to pay large sums of money for it?
Of course, ‘like’ is subjective. On top of that, it is incredibly dependent on having been exposed to a level of breadth, depth and craft of creativity that enables them to make objective and considered choices in how they judge and answer challenges. Which all leads to 3 points:
1. Companies need to stop thinking outsourcing their annual ‘one-size-fits-all’ training is acceptable behaviour. Especially when it’s outsourced to the same individuals and companies as everyone else is using, even though – ironically – they have never actually made any work that has made a sustainable and meaningful impact on society or categories.
2. Employees need to stop thinking that just because they receive a salary for doing a job – and/or have social media followers – they are equipped with all the skills, standards and qualifications to consider themselves ‘an expert’.
3. Marketing needs to respect and elevate the value of ‘experience’ again.
Not popularity.
Not price-point.
Not the ability to write ‘thought leadership’ articles.
Actual experience.
People who have consistently created, crafted and delivered work – not simply been associated with it – that has achieved, challenged pushed standards, brands and categories over and over again.
Because while they may be more expensive than other hires.
While they may be harder to work with because they call out the bullshit.
The value they offer is they’ll create work for you that passes the first level of the harshest critics … themselves.
And in a world of slop, parity and lowest common-denominator landfill, experience means you’ve just increased the odds of your business being able to take giant leaps rather than – at best – a few teeny-tiny, barely noticeable [unless pointed out with a big arrow] shuffles.
Filed under: 2026, A Bit Of Inspiration, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Brand, Brand Suicide, Comment, Communication Strategy, Context, Corporate Gaslighting, Craft, Creativity, Culture, Nottingham, Standards, Stupid
Last week was a week of pissy posts, so I thought I’d write something a little less intense.
Recently I was in Nottingham and while on one of my walks, I passed this …
“What is it?” I hear you cry.
Well, it’s a notice about the busses.
Tied with a crappy piece of string to a branch of a nearby shrub because – I assume – the people who had to put it up thought it would take too much effort, cost or complexity to attach it to the actual bus stop.
You know, so passengers could maybe actually see it.
Now I appreciate Nottingham County Council is basically bankrupt so they can’t be spending money willy-nilly … but what the fuck is the point attaching a notice to a shrub that isn’t even next to the actual bus stop???
It all smacks of someone having to hit their KPI’s …
Where the focus is being able to say you did what was asked rather than did what was needed … even though you know what you did wasn’t in the spirit of the original request.
And while you could blame that on the clarity of the brief, it’s still an exercise in deliberate ignorance.
Or arrogance.
Or idiocy.
It reminds me of the toilets I wrote about in Singapore way back in 2006.
Another example of someone ‘executing’ rather than ‘accomplishing’ …
Also known as ‘modern business practice’ … where it increasingly feels like a job well done and well crafted is viewed as an unnecessary cost, when it can just be churned out without any consideration.
Or worse, when someone does that and then tries to hide their laziness behind ambiguous language or claims of cost efficiency.
Which is why I keep going back to the words a father of an old colleague of mine once said:
“If you haven’t got the time to do it right at the start, when will you have the time?”
When will companies realise that if they treat their customers like fools, they’ll value them accordingly?
The older I get, the more I believe the only thing we have are our standards … and while not everyone will appreciate them, you can be sure they will notice them when everyone else shows they don’t have any.