Lots of folks within the ranks of advertising want to start a union. I don’t understand it since that was what the Civil War was fought over about 150 years ago – in other words, a settled issue. Or it should be by now. But no matter, people want to protect people from the horrors of copywriting and art direction. I’m all in favor of that.
A century ago it was rows of destitute immigrants dangerously packed in the locked room of a poorly ventilated shirt factory’s top floor. Today, it’s creative dilletantes nitpicking over pop-ups and banner ads – the good stuff, the tricky stuff, the stuff that matters.
Operating heavy machinery for little pay is one thing, but remembering to go off mute during a client presentation is quite another. Sure, there were horrors back then, like stockyard mutilations and the occasional goring, but carpal tunnel can happen in both hands. Did you know that? I know one copywriter who got it in his feet, the poor sole.
Unions saved this country, made it a better place by protecting the rights of workers. Today it’s not people on oil rigs or climbing to the top of utility poles, but the hunched over ad school dropouts making their way through a career of plagiarism and predictability. We must change with the times.
The conditions of a typical agency are beyond words. But since it's my job to put things into words, I'll do my level best. The coffee in the coffee maker? It's not always gourmet and for a gourmand that's a god awful decision. Sometimes we take the stairs instead of the elevator. Though not much in the last year when people have spread out over their bedsheets in remote working ecstasy. The lights aren't usually LED. So much for going green, huh? Lunch isn't a universal human right - not yet. Get with it, people, this concerns you, too.
Slackers of the world unite.
No comments:
Post a Comment