5640: Seeking 10-20 Minutes Of Venom.

This actual craigslist ad was apparently posted by a copywriter out to create the Great American Novel smearing the advertising industry. In typical lazy adperson fashion, the wannabe author is soliciting content. Then again, it might be the work of an account person, as the request is riddled with typos and he’s convinced people can accomplish the assignment in less than 30 minutes.

You hate the Ad business and can write a scathing essay why

Hello;

If you’ve been at an ad agency and experienced the blamestorming, puffery, layoffs, turn-n-burns, idea stealing, ego-maniacs, politics-ridden, overpaid, office sex, client horror stories, and just the general BS that makes up the internal world of the ad business, i want you to write about it for probably 10-20 minutes of just spewing--a half hour tops. I don’t want anything polished, spell checked or “heavy lifting.” I just want raw spilling, the sewage that is in your head about whats wrong with this business, why it should die, what should replace it, or whatever you got. Venom.

here’s why. I am writing a book on where advertising is going and i need sidebar evidence from people who are willing to be quoted or anonymously about why this industry deserves to be plowed and salted into the earth. So if you have significant rant and have been really inside an agency, I want to hear your experience that is really compelling (funny, insane, stupid, typical). If you want to do it, send me a quick note as where you’ve been and the general gist of the story. If you are interested, hit me back with a note and then we can do something. Since I’m a writer, I can clean it up if necessary, so this is not a “sweat the details” type of assignment, it’s one where i access the raw feeling of someone touched by this industry. I just need a paragraph--nothing long.

Everyone who gets into the book gets 100 bucks for their assignment--everyone. So divided by the half hour it will take, that’s 200/hr if your words make it in (and you will be listed as a contributor, thanked in the preface by name and all the glory that comes with that (sound of crickets). Anyway, spew, and send, that’s the deal—don’t even edit it. GO!