'The Marketer's Anthem' Is A Hilarious Tribute To The Existential Sadness Of Professional Creativity
They spend countless hours writing and designing stories that cut to the very core of audiences that can number in the hundreds of millions - and they're paid handsomely to do so.
And yet, the ultimate goal of this massive exertion of creative energy can be as trivial as selling a specific men's grooming product or convincing someone to become Facebook friends with a cookie.
This delicate balance between creativity and business is the subject of "The Marketer's Anthem," a hilarious new music video from the Toronto-based agency Open.
In it, a deep-voiced male lists the many achievements of the advertising industry "creative." These accomplishments range from sincerely impressive feats like making people cry during a juice ad to slightly silly pursuits like giving a voice to sports drinks and bathroom tissue brands.
After lamenting the fact that marketers have all stooped to lows like friending inanimate objects on Facebook, the video closes with a celebration of the industry's "lanyard-swinging rebels," and a call to action for all the "marketing geniuses" who've found success in an extremely competitive industry.
Throughout, Open expertly toes the line between ridiculing the empty, commercial goals of its chosen profession and celebrating the industry members who have managed to make a living through creative work at a time when it has become increasingly hard to do so.
In doing so, Open has made a video that any artist would be proud of - one that will resonate deeply with anyone who has searched for meaning at the intersection of art and commerce.