Industry: Beyond Obligation.

Thanks to Yossy and Esther for the heads up.

Deb has a column on talent zoo.

Excerpted below.

Beyond Obligation.
by Deborah Morrison
03/22/2006

"...There's a solid group of professionals working out there, creating content beyond the simple obligation to sell products honestly, beyond persuasion and strategy, beyond even the cool and groovy of a hip new brand...When you see what they craft as solutions to brand problems, it hits you.

These people are working to change culture, all the while doing a helluva job making ads.

It's not volunteerism or pro bono work I'm talking about, though we all know those are important gifts to the community. The focus here is on smart strategy honing sharp ads for mainstream goods and services. It seems to me that the people crafting those ads often have an interesting two-pronged agenda. Their first objective is to produce relevant, rewarding work for a client. But the second objective for these creatives is to help fuel how people think and feel, how they frame issues and ideas in a cultural context. It’s about doing something meaningful that is beyond obligation.

In talking with those creatives, I hear repeatedly a most fervent wish to do work of value to the greater good. They want to paint wonderful stories: consider the work for Mini or HP or Nike on any given day and you realize there's more than just strategy going on there. Something life-affirming exists within the framework of the ad. More, the people I'm thinking about challenge ideas of who is part of the story being told: witness the use of minorities and women in unexpected key roles to explain brands...

...These are simple things accomplished daily in the advertising world. The inspiring words in a headline, out-of-the-ordinary casting decisions, the interesting branch of the decision tree taken during conceptualizing that leads to a gift for the audience; all might seem inconsequential. But added together, they are the small moments that make momentous change for a society who learns from watching.

We should honor the link between strong creative and strong ethical vision. This doesn’t mean we regulate, officiate, or award enlightening messages. It certainly doesn't mean I hold that a person is more ethical than the rest simply because he has a job on the creative side. And you know what? Not all advertising should be of the social change variety. As in life, there should be moments of seriousness, of goofy humor, of information well-told without a noble or positive moment, even a bit of innuendo. We need Burger King and Axe and The Onion to laugh at and push boundaries.

...But I believe there's hope. I'm foolish enough to think that somewhere in the daily crunch of producing stuff, there are talented people who stop and think: what can I do to make the world better? And I'm wise enough to know that those creative people want essentially to do good. Our job – as industry professionals and as educators – is to see that somewhere, every day, the beyond obligation spirit is rewarded."