Blogging About Blogging

Back in the Middle Ages, when I was a creative director, I had a few strict rules:

• No talking animals
• No guys dressed as girls
• No celebrity's mothers
• No ads about advertising

Today I'm going to break the spirit of one of those rules and blog about blogging.

Here are a few random thoughts on the subject.

1. Unpleasantness in advertising is not something new. As long as I've been in the business I've seen and heard lots of viciousness. What's different now is the internet. It provides an outlet for angry, cowardly people to hurl vitriol immediately, anonymously, and publically, particularly on blogs.

2. One of the problems for ad bloggers is that the most popular topics for blogging are industry gossip and industry news. Ad gossip and news invariably require bloggers to talk about people. Once you start talking about people, you're going to provoke highly emotional reactions. In other words, if you're going to hurl mud, you better have a good pair of windshield wipers.

3. Here at The Ad Contrarian, I don't give a damn about advertising gossip or news. I try to deal in ideas. That's why I'll never make a nickel doing this.