Mate, we’ve seriously got to talk. Just what exactly is going on with you guys? What, in the name of sweet Jesus and all that is good and useful in this world is going on with your agency? I blame myself, of course. I should have arrived in Hamburg by now; I shouldn’t have been careless and hurt myself. I should have made it. But I didn’t. I was planning on coming again but haven’t managed that. What the hell is going on Peter?
I turned a blind eye to the your “Scheiße” job spec’ thing where JvM talk about what a shit day you guys have with your jet-set, coke taking, star dazzled life style. I ignored the mails I was getting from people asking me “why on earth” I would want to walk hundreds of kilometres to go and work for a place that pumps out “that kind of rubbish”.
Then there was that Vodafone thing. You know, where JvM did the advert that looked a little bit like the Telekom ad. OK, that can happen. I mean if you’ve got young creatives working on an account, it’s easy for them to miss a campaign that came out whilst they were in Kindergarten. I mean, the Telekom ad is at least 5 years old.
It’s the “guerrilla” thing for SIXT, however, that has really made me wonder why I ever wanted to walk to you. I’m not sure what disappoints me most; the fact that the agency you are in charge of has completely missed the current political mood of this country (you do know that SIXT is a Munich based company and that the CSU are loosing ground to Green Party exactly because of their stance on Nuclear Energy don’t you?) or the fact that in your desperate attempt to create “momentum”, JvM have managed to trivialise the concerns of millions of people. Frankly, I’m struggling to remember seeing anything as cynical as getting a team of people to infiltrate a political demo as important as the Castor protest; with banners and flyers encouraging people to rent vans and trucks for heaven’s sake.
You may find me a bit old fashioned Peter, but I think the advertising industry disrupts the lives of ordinary people enough as it is. In fact I think the advertising industry not only takes liberties but also takes the piss. The SIXT “Der Castor-Coup” doesn’t only take the piss, it’s insulting and demonstrates a complete lack of empathy.
I had the great pleasure to spend three days in London last week, working at a place that I now consider the absolute benchmark. I didn’t even need to walk there and they asked me to come. One of the founding members of the agency once said that “advertising is a weapon; be careful where you point it” and I think that is something that JvM should take heed of.
Take heed, Peter. Take heed.
Regards etc.
Marcus.
