The other Extreme

Hugh makes some interesting points in the post-Super Bowl ad frenzy this morning. What he describes here is the opposite extreme of what I deal with near weekly:

Advertising, like journalism, is a craft, not a profession, and advertising execs, like journalists, has to figure out that distributed across the population are some extraordinary talents who could easily do what they do and sometimes choose to do so for free.

The costs to entry are much higher for advertising than journalism, though, and thus advertising execs are not nearly as imperiled as journalists by the rise of distributed networks of independents. Still, every producer of consumer goods has to be asking themselves this morning why they have been paying all that money for ads that haven't connected.

Then you have me. I see near weekly one potential advertiser convinced that he's unlocked the secret of successful advertising, only to shoot his promotional wad of cash and get not-much in return.

Every coin is two-sided.