Comments on: Pop Nihilism: Advertising Eats Itself

By: Cloudvertising: Social Media and Online Ad Targeting | Affiliate Marketing | Affiliate Networks

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:25:14 +0000

[...] You see, the nature of the web is that it gives us on-demand content, so we end up not noticing the content we’re not looking for. But more importantly, we distrust online ads because they run counter to the experience that draws us online in the first place. I go online to get what I want when I want it, and I never really want advertising. As Douglas Haddow put it: [...]

By: Douglas Haddow

Douglas Haddow — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:02:28 +0000

It’s interesting that you mention Lennon because he is probably one of the best modern examples of a virtuoso whom attempted to destroy the conventions of his art form and dismantle the industrial powers that controlled the medium (music) he was working in. Just look at what he tried to do with Apple Corps. and his first few post-Beatles records.

Dickens not so much, although in terms of content, his portrayal of the London slums was revolutionary in it of itself. Destruction is a flexible term though, isn’t it? I’ll do some research on Dickens and see what I can come up with.

By: CT Moore

CT Moore — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:04:58 +0000

@ben, I see what you’re saying about Lennon and Dickens; they definitely break rules more than destroy the medium, and that’s probably the best way to apply Schumpeter’s “creative destruction” to an medium.

But Schumpeter’s “creative destruction” applied more to industry than art forms, and I think, for that reason, the idea of “destroying mediums” is more applicable to the advertising industry. Ad agencies are evolving more into ad/marketing/PR agencies, and are abandoning the “repitition” model that defined their work for so long. In fact, marketing agencies are similarly evolving to bring PR into their fold of services, and quite a few members of the PR industry are not enthused about how their own craft is being lumped together with sales tactics.

Granted, to say that “truly creative individuals always, without exception, seek to destroy the mediums they work within” is a bit confusing in this context, if only because advertising is really a medium in and of itself. Rather, it’s an “industry” that has traditionally leveraged a variety of media to “repeat” a message that would help drive sales. Nevertheless, Schumpeter’s idea of “creative destruction” is particularly applicable.

By: ben

ben — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:01:09 +0000

I read this article in AdBusters and I don’t get;

“truly creative individuals always, without exception, seek to destroy the mediums they work within”

I don’t see John Lennon trying to destroy music nor Dickens destroy literature. They break rules and boundaries but totally destroy it? Why would they?

I liked the rest of it though. I never understand why Coca Cola spend so much on advertising and marketing when they’re so ubiquitous and are offering nothing new to last year. I’m sure they could stop advertising for one year and not see much of a downturn. Infact the PR of them not advertising would probably get them more column inches than any of their ad campaigns.