8866: Creativity And McRib® Sandwiches.

This week’s Advertising Age is titled, “The Creativity Issue.” Yet industry trends seem to indicate that creativity is becoming less important to clients and agencies alike.

One glaring example is the recent success of McGarryBowen, which managed to win the Sears and Burger King accounts, as well as become a finalist in the United Airlines pitch. While MultiCultClassics is not a McGarryBowen hater like other blogs and critics, it is difficult to deny that the shop does not seem committed to producing breakthrough work. Most McGarryBowen campaigns are solid and professionally executed, but it all feels safe, contrived and dated. Apparently, the clients love it.

Mediocrity is the new black, usually justified with fuzzy data allegedly showing small ideas lead to big sales—and big ideas lead to small sales.

Going back to McGarryBowen, consider the Burger King scenario. For many years, Crispin Porter + Bogusky arguably generated highly memorable and compelling messages for the fast food chain. However, the award-winning stuff did not move Whoppers off the flaming grills. On the flip side, Mickey D’s has enjoyed unprecedented success—while shitting out the lamest advertising in decades.

McGarryBowen is not unique in its client-approved conservatism. Agencies such as Zimmerman and Partners regularly add accounts to the roster, without adding creativity to the offerings. Meanwhile, Draftfcb Chairman Howard Draft openly admitted that only 20 percent of his agency’s output is outstanding—an optimistic estimate, based on the shop’s consistently crappy commercials.

The holding companies share the guilt for the generic and stale state of affairs. Omnicom certainly endorses Zimmerman. Hell, the network is notorious for stacking the deck with sister agencies during reviews, promoting parity whether real or imagined. Can anyone say with a straight face that Goodby Silverstein and Partners is equal to Fathom Communications? Can anyone even identify Fathom? Nonetheless, the obscure firm managed to pick up the Propel business that had formerly been handled by Goodby. And the switch was blessed by PepsiCo.

Keeping the ship racing forward—at warp speed with cheapness disguised as fiscal responsibility—is the course of the day. Rock the boat and you’ll be cast overboard by your own crew.

Agencies focused on digital and below-the-line initiatives compound the madness. These places tend to be project-based, which forces a cost-driven approach to the work. A shop’s reliance on stock photography—and clients’ insistence on royalty-free stock photography—is a recipe for ordinary versus extraordinary.

At Advertising Age’s Small Agency Diary, Derek Walker explored the growing lack of respect for the creative process by relating it to the time-consuming craftsmanship that his father put into preparing ribs. The public, however, has demonstrated being comfortable without a dedication to excellence, as evidenced by the popularity of the McRib® sandwich. We’re too willing to settle for a fast, sloppy bargain. If something kinda looks and feels like a rib sandwich—or a branding campaign—we’ll eat it. And come back for seconds too.

The truth is, these issues go beyond a lack of respect for the creative process. Nowadays, too many clients and agency denizens barely believe the creative process is necessary.