Why I Do This

Here at The Ad Contrarian, we allow ourselves one crass, self-serving post a quarter.

Sorry, today's the day.

You see, writing this blog is a big pain in the ass. It has gotten me in way more trouble than it's worth. So from time to time I have to remind myself why I do it.

Once in while, something nice happens. Here's a letter I received yesterday.

Hello Bob,

I happened to chance upon your blog at just about the time when I had begun to look for job opportunities outside of the advertising world, simply because I began to lose faith in this whole business of communication.

I'm not a writer of any sort, so fancy words are not for me, but I would like to tell you that I am simply in love with your thoughts and take on the industry as a whole.  For some time now, I have been trying to understand the chaos that I see around me when it comes to agency's and their strategies.  I have been questioning everything and everyone around me, right from the branch head to the creative directors to the planners, as to why we seem to be doing all weird stuff in the name of communication.  As a consequence of my curiosity, I have been shunned by a few, shoo'd by a few and been fed rocket science bullshit by the rest claiming to be the experts in what they do.  The effect hasn't been good on either side of my brain, so I thought it best to exit this industry before I'm forced to exit my own mind.

I found your writing irresistible and it does reinstate my faith in the fact that advertising as an industry hasn't completely gone down the drain yet and that there are people like you who will keep it alive and give it it's true meaning.

Thanks and regards,

Pragya

PS: I am an MBA and I did notice that you have an aversion to MBA's in general.  I don't agree with your idea of generalising and placing people in a certain category basis a subject or a specialisation they chose to go into.  I do understand that creative guys have a different bend of mind; they're probably born with superior communication skills, but that does not make MBA's a misfit in the industry.

Hello Pragya:

Thanks so much. You don't know how much I appreciate your kind words.

As for my aversion to MBAs (and account planners, strategists, social media gurus, and researchers) I know there are some very good ones out there who are hard-working, smart, and tremendously valuable. But dammit, I need to blame someone.