Thursday, May 5, 2011

Orange juice and advertising.

One of the luxuries I allow my otherwise austere self is fresh-squeezed orange juice. Next to a perfectly ripe comice pear or deep red watermelon, I think real orange juice is one of the most delicious things you can consume.

For most people, at least in this country, orange juice usually comes poured from a carton. Regardless of what they call it on that carton, "100% natural," "fresh-squeezed," whatever, the liquid that comes from these boxes is dramatically inferior to the real thing.

The thing is, both liquids are orange juice. They are both the same but they are not the same.

A similar conundrum confronts our industry. There are people who do multi-million dollar commercials that are seen by millions and millions of people at a clip. And there are people who design ways to get from page to page on a website. Both those people are in advertising. Both might be creative directors. Both might fulfill important roles. Both might be the same. But they are not the same.

I'm sorry if you find this neo-fascist and biased.

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