Salad Forks & Ad Dorks

Big news, people, big news. This office has been voted, I almost can’t believe I’m saying this: The Most Pretentious Workplace by Slow Company. It wasn’t always this way. There were times when our faux earnestness when unnoticed by industry trade publications. No longer. Despite this honor, there are lots of new hires who ask me what makes an office pretentious. It’s not always as simple an answer as you might think.

But pretention is in the details, the little things. I make sure everyone puts both accents on the word “résumé.” Or, their, “ray-zoom-ay,” as I like to say. There are pretentious people, friends within advertising, who think it’s all about attitude. They are wrong. Being pretentious is actually quite simple. At least for me and the proof is in the pudding. 

I run this agency like a Michelin-rated French restaurant with all the trimmings, or should I say, drippings. That doesn’t mean we call each other “chef” or wear white aprons covered in entrails. Not that this hasn't been the result of many late night work sessions. But it does mean we have bouillabaisse - not paella - on tap in the kitchen. Has a mussel shell or two been known to clog up the stew line? Yes, but this is how the creative sausage gets make. It means that when we’re stumped by an idea we put it a sous vide bag and leave it there overnight. Without fail, something new and funky will be waiting for us in the morning. 

Unless the agency dog gets to it first.