Over on MoreAboutAdvertising, mate Stephen Foster has a piece… Is Sir Martin’s “Black Swans” theory one for the birds? Apparently, His Gnomeship has uncorked a swan metaphor in defense of WPP’s less than sterling recent financials. As Stephen explains…Black swans, in Sorrell-ese, are nasty unpredictable events, the grey version are predictable problems that may still turn out to be nastier than expected. The sad thing about this kind of bullshit is that it demonstrates the lack of awareness Sir Martin has of his own organizations history. Many years ago, Dear Old David wrote an ad to fill a senior creative position within the Ogilvy organization. He too used a swan metaphor, only his was truly Ogilvy-esque in its splendor and aptness. Enjoy it, particularly the last line, below.
“Write in inviolable secrecy to me.” Wonderful!