Essay 852

Don’t mean to diss Bob Garfield too much, but the man continues to build on the ignorance of his previous column (see Essay 820). Last week, Garfield sensed racial undertones in an Oreos commercial starring American Idol’s Randy Jackson. Now he turns his cultural critic’s expertise on teen marketing (click on the essay title above to read the complete column).

Oddly enough, Garfield opens with the whining of a stereotypical Baby Boomer in the throes of a mid-life crisis. Check it out:

“You think this job is easy?

“Walk a mile in AdReview’s shoes. Try to find something different to say week after week for 20 years. Try to be simultaneously serious and entertaining. Try to keep a level head. Try not to damage any careers along the way.

“Is there anything more excruciating than some lametard adult copy writer trying to speak to teenagers in their own language? To see this stuff is to cringe.

“51-year-old man
Oh, and if you happen to be an incredibly macho and worldly 51-year-old man, try putting yourself into the head of the many demographic target cohorts to which we, strictly speaking, do not belong. Not only are we not in the bull’s-eye-18 to 34 years-old — we’re also not a skateboarder/gamer, a soccer mom or, to the best of our knowledge, Japanese.”

You’d think Garfield would have stopped right there. Instead, he proceeds to skewer a Wal-Mart campaign for its irrelevant copy and imagery. Has Wal-Mart ever produced anything that wasn’t lame? Do we need Garfield to identify what’s been obvious for decades?

But here’s the real point of this rant: Bob Garfield symbolizes a lot of the negative issues in America’s advertising industry.

After all, the man admits to being clueless on the cultural tip, yet he still feels compelled, comfortable and competent to comment on everything with a sense of authority. This demonstrates the blatant arrogance so prevalent on Madison Avenue.

Another quote from the column reads, “This week it’s teenage and preadolescent girls and boys. And, we’re like, that is soooo gay.” Leave it to Bob to successfully turn off gays and teens with a single sentence. He also manages to deliver statements that smack of ageism, implying that an “adult copy writer” may not have the know-how to communicate to youth. This demonstrates the discriminatory attitudes running rampant in the industry.

The cultural cluelessness and discriminatory attitudes exhibited here are deeply rooted in our business. From judging awards shows to judging job candidates, too many decisions are made through limited — and often narrow-minded — perspectives.

To be clear, this is not intended to be a direct attack on Bob Garfield. It’s highly likely that he’s a loving family man and law-abiding citizen. And it’s highly unlikely that he’s a racist or even mean-spirited. But like too many of our industry’s leaders, he is culturally clueless. And probably a little biased as well.

Maybe we should start to criticize the relevance and qualifications of the culturally clueless types among us.