Minneapolis 4A’s fucktards talk shit!

You have to fucking laugh at the piece in today’s New York Times by Ace Ad Columnist, uber-douchenozzle, Stuart Elliott, about how Minneapolis Ad Agencies are teaming up to run a campaign aimed at attracting more creative people to the city of… “Freeze your nuts off in the winter… Get bitten to fucking death by mosquitoes in the summer.” The big attraction, obviously, is that this is the city that originated the band wagon every other brain dead agency has since jumped on of producing award winning ads for tattoo parlors and take away Chinese restaurants, which, more often than not, never fucking ran. The 27 Minneapolis agencies taking part in this exercise in futility, are all members of the 4A’s. Non-members… Meaning the real hot ones like, Mono, Olson and Zeus Jones — are told to fuck off. Ha, fucking ha, why am I not surprised about that? The theme of this inspiring effort, is all about not placing your account in New York shops. So you have to wet your pants at the remarks of local fucktard, Kevin DiLorenzo, president of Olson, who says: “Certainly I understand that membership should have its privileges, to borrow an ad slogan, and you should belong to play.” Do you think this dipshit has any idea that the slogan he quotes was created for AmEx by Ogilvy in big, bad New York? Probably not. Back to the drawing board. Have to get that tattoo parlor ad out for tomorrow’s free-sheet.

And they all belong to the 4A's!!!

Comments

[Janet]

While I feel that 4A Mpls agencies banding together to essentially beg companies to consider them may not be the best way to go about it, I find this article horribly ignorant. I get it - you're AdScam. You're also part of the world that believes any and all outside of NYC is beneath consideration. NYC has it's benefits, sure. But, so does Mpls, within and outside the ad world. Is it cold and mosquito-ridden? Sure. Mpls also has a skyway system that makes traversing the city much more pleasant in the winter than NYC.

[George Parker]

@Janet...
Don't get your knickers in a twist... I live in Boise, fucking Idaho. It makes Mpls look like fucking Paris (Not the one in Texas) I'm just blogging that it's a stupid fucking idea. These days, if you're good, you can be anywhere.
Cheers/George

[Vic Norman]

I resent this article. There is one city that is the king of scams and that city is Singapore. The 'poreans are rightly proud of their reputation as the leaders in the production of pointless peices of shit.

[George Parker]

@Vic...
You can resent your arse off... Fallon started it long before Singapore had a fucking ad agency. Yes, the ads ran in local papers, but Fallon did them for free. And the "clients" had mo say in the content. It's history.
Cheers/George

[Brothel Pianoman]

Isn't all the fucktards quoted in that article prove the douchebag factor in this town is already too high? And Minneapolis thinks it needs MORE ad people moving to the Twin Cities?

No work here folks. If I were you, I'd try Boulder.

[midbest]

@Janet

Mpls has a skyway system for the winter? What the fuck am I still doing in new york? Fuck the culture, I'm outta here. Can you still get a free ham with an oil change?

[methinksdifferent]

George,

I resent everything you fucking write about because it reminds me about how I wasted so much fucking time believing advertising was a viable and credible business.

Also, aswell and furthemore directed at the other fucking point of nothing, about not much, like Janets bullshit whine that make me fucking sick with laughter and pain mixed up just like a bottle of fucking Wolfschmidts Vodka and CPB Coke Zero......

Even though people are unwilling to except experience and informed perspective, fuck them and their delusional expectations and just keep it coming.

They will never "get it", but I don't suspect you ever thought they would to begin with. That's part of the fun here.

As for Mpls ad shops looking for a gig.......guess what....you blew it about 8 years back. Now get in the back of the line ad suck ass like the rest.

[George Parker]

@methinks...
Glad to be of help... That's why I'm here.
Cheers/George

[CS]

I'm back in LA now after a stint in NYC. You think Mpls sucks ass? Please!!! This place is the end of the fucking earth. And that includes the skate park masquerading as an agency. And its suck-ass wannabe cousin around the corner. At least in NYC, they try to look busy.

Poser wankers!

[midbest]

@methinksdifferent

you speak different too

[slowmo]

Have you all seen the site yet?

http://minneadpolis.com/#home

[bg]

What’s funny is that it’s not about the ad agencies there getting respect. They have a lot of solid agencies in addition to a strong design community, but the gist of the article is what, brands never gave MN a shot?

For real? Do you know how many major brands are located there already? Target. Best Buy. General Mills. ConAgra. Hormel. Northwest. 3M. Andersen Windows, (near) and on, and on.

You know how many ad communities would KILL for a list like that of potential client near them? FUCK. Stop whining to the outside world and work your ass off to impress THOSE brands.

As for the idea of respect, insecure much? Fallon, arguably the best shop coming up in the world at the time, put the city on the advertising map, and now the ad scene is complaining about respect?

Gimmee a fucking break. I’m sure Milwaukee and Cleveland feel really bad for you right about now.

[bg]

(...potential clients...)

[kypar]

Mpls should have hired this small tourism board group that won a Grand Prix at Cannes with just a $1.6MM budget...

http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/rohit-bhargava/influential-marketing/7-lessons-best-marketing-campaign-ever?partner=homepage_newsletter

[Mathew Jacob]

@Vic Norman | July 13, 2009 at 05:43 PM,

There is one city that is the King of scams and that city is Singapore? Please provide more information. I am from the country across the causeway from Singapore. We are upset about your comment!

[slowmo]

Matthew, Singapore has a bad rep in Asia for entering ghost ads or pure pro bono ads to win awards. This has gone on for decades.

But scam ads are hardly restricted to just 1 country. It's even worse when it comes to agencies from South America.

That's why I kinda respect the digital work in the award shows. It is riduculously hard to win with real work and with scam ads.

[Volney Palmer IV]

THERE was a genius in the marketing of Minneapolis agencies back in the 70s and into the 80s by McElligott et al. It got them recognition and clients. The work (whether for a barber shop or Murray's Restaurant or The Episcopal Church) was fresh and worthy of emulation.
But that was 30 years ago, and the trick's been done. And done. And done. And done. And done.
Marketing a town's ad agencies seems an impossible task, better done as something earlier sugggested at the grassroots of local clients which, in the case of Minneapolis, luckily is achievable.
New York became the ad center because the media were in Manhattan--national magazines, the radio networks, and eventually the back offices of the television networks and syndicators.
That doesn't exist any more because there ain't no center and the media buying groups have separated from the creative/strategic groups.

[Mathew Jacob]

@slowmo,

Thanks for the clarification. The disease of scam/ghost ads exists all over Asia and West Asia. I think it would be more difficult elsewhere to pass off such work. The reasons are young creative's craving for instant fame. The more experienced ones fuck their brains trying to come up with original work.

[Volney Palmer IV]

OR old creative's craving for instant fame

[slowmo]

Matthew, I agree with Volney though. In Singapore, the older and more notable creatives are still trying to scam for awards and they set a bad example for the younger ones.

However, I'm glad to see that Asia's "real" design and online work are still improving by leaps and bounds.

Maybe it's just my professional bias but I feel that design and interactive advertising calls for a problem solving mindset. This is missing from the superficial work that passes for today's mainstream advertising.

[Kevin Horne]

For the love of God, George, please tell me it is not true that you still subscribe to Stuart Elliott's weekly (WEAKLY) "column" ?!!?

[Mathew Jacob]

@slowmo,

Actually, I forgot to mention plagiarised and outright stolen work. That's the real problem.

I agree with you about online. Plenty of good, strategic stuff coming out of Asia.

There is still somewhat of a disconnect however, between the teams delivering online and offline creative.

[slowmo]

Matthew, good point. The disconnect may come from the idea that only some people needs to think of ideas while having others purely just to execute them.

Such thinking has permeated 1 or 2 digital networks where there's an idea centre and an overseas production centre located in a country with low labour costs.

Thankfully, these networks are in the minority. In a proper digital set-up, anyone who knows anything about digital needs to have a seat at the table from the start "conceptualising" to the end of a campaign. I have gotten good ideas from my coders and tech people who advise me on usability issues, execution-driven ideas, as well as sharing their knowledge of user and technological trends. I shudder at the thought of doing without their inputs for pitches or campaigns.

So for people who still think that a copywriter-AD pair is all you need to win pitches and do campaigns at this digital-driven day and age, well, they may just be a little behind the curve. No man is an island and I have yet to see a groundbreaking idea invented by a someone who lives like Robinson Crusoe or Tom Hanks in "Castaway".

Ideas are often inspired by insights or an understanding of the market and user behaviour, as well as a functional appreciation of the context or related content that ideas need to work with. Without these things, you got nothing.

Apologies for the mini rant.