ARTICLES

Every ad agency wants good clients (meaning ones who desire great advertising and pay their bills on time). And some clients agree with this. But as Scott G points out, many firms seem to be working from a slightly different perspective, one that kills creativity right from the start.

COLUMN: Companies need to do a better job of policing themselves when signing up new customers on the Internet and through mail campaigns, otherwise they risk contributing to an already serious epidemic of personal and business identity theft. Certain companies are making it a little easier for crooks to get a foot in the door due to a lack of safeguards and common sense. And guess what? It just happened to my company.

Scott G recently watched a lot of car commercials. He was not amused.

The VW Jetta television commercials from Crispin Porter + Bogusky are shocking, effective, and eerily beautiful. But as Phil Hatten points out to Scott G, the sound designer has undercut their message (or VW has a product defect).

Political advertising sucks. Not only does it reduce complex issues to the level of a schoolyard taunt, there are few boundaries to constrain the worst offenders in the game. And the game appears to be called "Who Tells Lies the Fastest." With anger and sadness, Scott G looks at some of the dreck we endure prior to every election.

There is something to be said for setting the bar too low: all subsequent efforts will look better. Scott G gives a mercifully brief examination of a recent train wreck from something calling itself agency.com.

COLUMN: Some ad campaigns don't work. Like the recent mistake of putting an American Idol winner in a retail automotive ad. Scott G comments on Ford's chopping of Taylor Hicks.

The ad campaign for "Lady in the Water" was a noble attempt at marketing a movie using wit, taste and style. But as Scott G notes, the low turnout for the film's opening weekend may make things a little less subtle in the future.

COLUMN: Apparently shaving is no longer hip and cool. I'm watching TV, the commercials come on, and I am blinded by the stubble... oh the stubble ... Does Paris Hilton think "that's hot?" Ohmigod! I need to stop shaving or I'm not going to get past that velvet rope!

COLUMN: Copywriters and art directors get much of the attention in the ad world, but Scott G is one creative director who claims it's the account management function that controls how a campaign soars or collapses.