To the Roaring Twenties

"People shaking hands, that's a good image for business."

I will never forget those words. Uttered by a man worth more than $5 billion. A man who looked over our exhaustive high minded brand campaign for his business software company and basically shit all over the work.

"What about people answering the phone? Did you try that? Because that's also a good image for business."

That happened more than 20 years ago. And though our efforts did not produce a campaign, the memory of that disastrous encounter, in a building bounded by the multicolored waters of South San Fransisco, still produces a laugh. And for that, I am thankful.

And it makes for an excellent transition for today's post.

You see I've noticed many of my freelancing colleagues are taking time to thank all their clients. More specifically, they're listing all the agencies that hired them in the past year. I want to thank those colleagues for clueing me in to the shops that are still hiring freelancers.

Or, in the vernacular of Glengarry Glen Ross, "Thanks for the good leads."

As someone who prides himself on resourcefulness, I will most certainly be tracking down these newfangled agencies that have eschewed the standard three names on a door motif and now adopted names more befitting a local garage band, ie:

Mindblaster

Cheesemonkey

Click Soldier

I will also follow suit and offer up my appreciation to the folks who put the brisket on my BBQ. Not the agencies, the clients. Many of whom simply bypass the floundering AOR model and come directly to my digital doorstep.

So sincere thanks go out to the following:


NFL

Kaiser Permanente

TBS

Jaguar

Land Rover

HBO

CNN

Guitar Center

Al Serra Auto Plaza

TruBrain with CBD

CBS Sports

Gallagher Insurance

Botox

Luke's Organic Chips

Green Roads CBD

Hyundai

Family Tree DNA

Vizio

Universal Music Group

Sesame Street

Switch4Good

Cox Communications

The variety of companies I've worked for is only surpassed by the variety of media each assignment entailed. Everything from unopened email blasts to ungodly expensive Super Bowl commercials.

It was good year, not a great year. Because projects that once lasted months, now last weeks. And in many instances, days. And believe it or not, I have on several occasions, been contracted out by fractional hours.

Let's hope 2020 brings us bigger budgets, smaller meetings, fewer FFDKK's™ (Frivolous Fuckwadian Digital Knick Knacks), and more mass media (TV/outdoor/Print). Most of all, longer lead times.

And while we're engaging in this Capitalist daydream, let's give people back their offices and take a sledgehammer to the Long Table of Mediocrity™.

Let's Make Advertising Great Again.

Happy Holidays.

See you in the new decade.

And Fuck Trump.