Incompetent nonsense

That's what ad legend David Ogilvy called the commercials he was seeing, and that was years ago. You can see it today in the barrage of adolescent bathroom humor and irrelevant messages aimed at the young. Lots of unshaven young men in bars with their condoms and credit cards swizzling beer with single young ladies. What's the message? It's not taste or value and certainly not up-market status. You can see it in the worst campaign on the air: Geico insurance. Ogilvy also said there were no good ads, only good campaigns and Geico is a cacophony of conflicting campaigns that includes flying pigs, banjo players and a lizard with a down-market English accent. I was told as a young copywriter to avoid borrowed interest such as opening a commercial with an erupting volcano and saying: “Speaking of volcanoes have you tried our coffee?” It's all volcanoes now with little time for product benefits. The missing link is good copy. The art guys and the producers are calling the shots and the poor copy guy is still pleading: “What does it mean?” McLuhan warned that television would pollute the thought environment and I now think that today's advertising is obstructing the economy by not serving our real needs. We're in a tough recession. We need real ideas for frugal, intelligent living not big dumb wasteful dollars supporting overpriced brands. The iconoclastic adman Howard Gossage tells the story of a soap company owner who says that if his ad spending stopped his market share would drop, and Gossage's answer was, “Would anyone in America be any dirtier?” You can still sell with taste, wit and class. Maybe I shouldn't be blaming the agencies since they're only in it to make a buck. Perhaps we have to get down on all fours and look at it from the client's point of view.