COM 443: Another Reflection #2

Someone working in the advertising industry told me recently of her frustration that the vast majority of creative, innovative, inventive advertisements are rejected for the stale and mundane stuff most of us are subjected to when we turn on the TV or radio. I find that both disturbing and very disappointing.

But at the same time, expected.

Advertising is, if nothing else, highly subjective and above all else a business. That's one of the first things we learn about it, in the various courses and classes we've taken. But that's exactly what makes it such a difficult thing for students like me to tackle many a time.

Take, for example, the "ASIA" campaign that AIA has been plastering all over signboards, bus stops and print media. I, for one, got it right away but thought it stupid anyway. Others took much longer to see it, though that might just mean that they are less attuned to the ridiculous. And then it wins an award. Wow.

On the other hand, there are ads that many around me like for whatever reason, and these are the ads that are then said to be ineffectual, poor, horrible. What are we to make of this confusing trend? When "research" leads you astray, are you supposed to start from scratch? And just hope?

Of course, there is much, much more to this that I - that many of us - haven't fully grasped yet and I realize that there is every possibility that there's something glaringly obvious that I'm overlooking to make things less frustrating. In the end, though, the more I try and immerse myself into the world of advertising, the more jaded and disillusioned I become.

The guest speaker from Ogilvy was entertaining enough, though what he had to say wasn't exactly enlightening as it was mood-lightening. Of course, I've had the lovely benefit of often speaking to someone currently working at Ogilvy, so that plays a part. I told that person as well, as I alluded to in my earlier entry, of my supposed interest in the field. And of how it has waned.

What now, then? Ultimately there is still work to be done, and conceivably it might galvanize me to rekindle that spark that once was there. Or not.

It's all subjective.

Kites

I've never, for the life of me, been able to keep a kite airborne for longer than the split second it takes for gravity to reintroduce it to the ground. It's yet another entry in my long list of failures, though today I realized that I can draw parallels to the damn thing.

People close to me may know about certain happenings and occurrences going on now, many of which aren't exactly satisfactory to me. These people (and you readers) also know that I rarely go into graphic detail about anything when I write here, so forget any scandalous statements of glorious gossip. I'll just say that I hate being strung around and along, and going from sky-high to having a close-up chat with the dirt from one second to the next. I don't want to be a damn toy.

The fact that Man Utd failed to win also compounds the complications that come with a cellphone that is intent on self-termination, while classes and school which should be fun and enjoyable seem colorless and dull, dreary and repetitive, just shit in general. Just end, already.

Then there's dealing with the incessant pestering and pandering that certain lurking individuals revel in, while other irrational behavior that I conduct and observe remain just that, irrational.

Urgh.