My big sister is 11 years older than me.
She went to live in New York when I was 15.
She took to it like a duck to water.
It’s a town where you don’t ask permission.
New York is tough, but so is my sister.
One night, several years ago, she was walking home from her office when she felt a tug at her bag on her shoulder.
It was a guy on a bicycle making a grab for it.
He was big guy: early twenties about 6 foot tall.
He grabbed her bag and pedalled away fast.
As he did, she grabbed his wrist with both hands.
She yanked him off his bike but, at that moment, her heel broke.
She stumbled and let go, and he cycled off.
She took her shoes off and ran after him
In her bare feet he couldn’t hear her coming.
Until he looked round and saw her just as she was about to grab him.
He pedalled like crazy, trying to get away up Second Avenue.
She jumped into the street in front of a cab.
It screeched to a stop and she jumped in next to the driver.
She said, “Follow that cyclist.”
The driver said, “Lady, I can’t do that.”
She yelled, “FOLLOW THE GODDAMN BIKE.”
The cab driver knew he had a crazy woman next to him.
So he followed the bike.
Eventually they came to a red.
The bike went through, the cab stopped.
He wouldn’t go through a red.
My sister got out of the cab and ran back to her apartment on the upper East Side.
She changed out of her office clothes.
She put on tracksuit bottoms, a T-shirt, and Nikes.
She took down a baseball bat and went back in the street, uptown looking for the guy who robbed her.
She walked down every alley she could find where she’d last seen him.
Around midnight, a police patrol car pulled up as she came out of an alley.
The cop lowered his window and said, “Lady, we’ve had some reports about you prowling around here with a baseball bat.
You wanna tell me what’s going on?”
In her poshest English accent my sister said, “Certainly officer, if you want to tell me where the fuck you were when I got mugged two hours ago.”
The cop nodded slowly, raised his window and drove off.
That’s why I love New York.
No wonder the best advertising comes from a town like that.
It’s a tough, no bullshit, town, it needs tough, no bullshit, advertising.
The general lack of arty-fartiness, means you can do advertising that has real power.
Not just pretty little pieces of film.
Muscular advertising that gets into the language instead of just getting into D&AD or Cannes.
Imagine a product that killed cockroaches being launched in England.
It would probably be called something like ‘Roachgon’.
And the strapline would be something like, “The humane way to get rid of unwanted guests”.
Just to make sure no one has to feel bad about killing insects.
In New York that product actually exists.
It’s a little box that traps cockroaches inside.
Then, when it’s full, you throw it in the garbage.
It’s called “ROACH MOTEL”.
And the strapline is, “Roaches check in. But they don’t check out”.
Brilliant.
You can laugh at them while you’re killing them.
Instead of pretending to be humane.
You can be honest, instead of being ashamed of what you’re doing and pretending it’s something else.
And that’s why the best advertising still comes from New York.
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That’s really brilliant!
Did your sister find the cyclist in the end?
Why didn’t she do advertising? ha.
One person can’t help you win but a lot of people can make you lose. The collective spirit of New York City is rarely equalled but never bettered.
New Yorkers are sometimes outnumbered but never outgunned.
Yes, did she find the cyclist!?
Hallo Dave.
I’m neither British nor American, so have no blind loyalty to either.
Would you say British art direction - layout especially - is neater/more appealing than your cousins across the Pond?
Maybe not now that Brit ads tend to be poster-type with big picture and minimal copy.
But those GGT LWT, Ariston, Honeywell, CDP’s Metro Police, AMV’s Sainsbury’s etc etc etc - surely they were streets ahead of American advertising.
I am fortunate enough to work on a pest control account (therefore feel compelled to comment since this is the only time this has been remotely relevant to anything whatsoever), and it would be lovely to adopt the ‘New York approach’ but you’re right - it just won’t happen. Instead, we constantly look for ways to effectively obfuscate the key proposition. Ridiculous really.
Alyna and Michael,
She didn’t catch that particular one.
But here’s another one that she did catch.
http://www.cstadvertising.com/blog/2009/03/dirty-harriett/
My brother in NYC has tried in the past to confuse muggers by speaking in French. Though I don’t know if mumbling “Pardon, je ne comprend pas” to someone with a screwdriver at your throat is going to do much BUT confuse the issue.
And I do want to say that NYC has had a real renaissance in my life time. It is nowhere near the place it once was back in the ‘70’s and early ‘80’s; a real lively, safe, livable city now in most ways. The real urban horrowshow is now in places like Detriot or Cleveland if my sources are correct. As always, it is about poverty and the poor victimizing the poor.
Give your sister a hug for us – if you dare!
Disenfranchised individuals. There are a lot about. Sweet dreams…
The NY attitude makes me think of the Australian’s “Tall Poppy Syndrome” - a levelling social attitude which has a definite impact on brands and advertising
It can be best seen in the fact that you sit in the front seat of a cab and can witness acutely direct Branding and Advertising in the market.
“So where the bloody hell are you?” by M&C Saatchi was one example that didn’t translate too well for it’s intended UK audience. The new VB Beer ad by Droga5 does a very direct job to level the playing field for the beleaguered Ozzie Bloke (a cast of over 1,500 no less!).
FYI the 120 second ad is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqojGEehfLU
Sully, for a better example of good old aussie tall poppy syndrome check out the comments section on campaign brief after the ad was posted: 131 comments, most of them slagging it off.
http://www.campaignbrief.com/2009/07/vb-what-banner-do-you-march-un.html#comments
http://ex-blank-page.blogspot.com/2009/07/in-reply-to-daves-great-posts-59.html
I’m a big fan of american advertising. not only it’s relevant in terms of message-product it’s also emotionally relevant which I find even more important. plus that they don’t think they have to be funny to be creative.
your Roach Motel proves it: everybody who ever had problems with roaches would do only one thing: kill them mercilessly. and enjoy in the process. there’s no ’softer’ option.
yeah, you might call it ‘no bullshit’
Hi Dave
You say new york is the best place to be and all, but its just different to here, and this feeds our curiosity and interest.
Everyone around the world can view English eccentricity or persona as the best, but its not, its just different, stands out.
There seems to be a trend in advertising blogs repeating “it wasn’t like the good old days” or “anywhere better than here”.
Where has the optimism gone?
It seems that the advertising industry is finding it more and more difficult to get excited, be inspired, or be so ambitious. Not ready to take risks, sticking to what they know works best, or in case to your post, do it a certain way everytime. It’s as if anything that doesn’t tick the boxes deserves the axe.
This is outrageous considering advertising needs to be different to stand out, why has it got to adhere to so many fundamentals now besides “sell”?
Traditional (media > consumer) advertising is getting old, with a declining sense of curiosity. Replaced instead with rules and prejudices, categories and predictions.
This needs to get creative again. It needs to be replaced with imagination and passion by reigniting the curiosity again.
How about trying to not understand your surroundings in your designated workspace and environment? By being in a forever changing space, your brain is activated to make sense of your surroundings, such as a surfer adapting to the changing waves or walking through a busy street.
Refresh your eyes
That’s an interesting take on this, Jack. It made me think of Crispin Porter Bogusky, who started off in Miami - not exactly a famous advertising city. And now they’ve moved the majority of their operation to Boulder Colorado to get a fresh perspective on things (among other reasons).
Like I said earlier, I’m neither Yank nor Limey.
But I prefer the Brit way of speaking.
Take the Miranda.
Yanks: You have the right to remain silent.
Brit: You do not have to say anything.
Yanks: Anything you say can and will be used against you.
Brit: What you say may be used as evidence against you.
Somehow, I find th Brit way gentler.
But maybe that’s because I’m Asian?
Sorry if I got both versions not fully correct.
What I know’s based on TV.
I really like the new york stories dave, they make me chuckle
C’mon guys
We all know New York is a state of mind. You’ve got one shot on this planet, so you best make the most of it.
Hi John,
As George Bernard Shaw said, “I want to be totally used up when I die.”
In other words, there’s no refund on the unused parts.
Use it or lose it.
Deferring responsibility is ‘bad faith’ or living inauthentically.
Everything else, religion/philosophy/ethics, comes after that.
As Sartre said, “We are condemned to be free.”
I’ll also post this comment on my Campaign/Brand Republic blog because the debate is similar.
With depressing finality, F. Scott Fitzgerald declared: “There are no second acts in American lives.” A tad melodramatic if you ask me.
I never understood what that meant.
Can you explain it?
Just a further confirmation to what we seem to be agreeing on in that we generally don’t have a second chance to make good i.e we have only one shot on this planet, so we best make the most of it/use it or lose it.
…having said that there does seem to be plenty of examples of people recreating themselves. Making comebacks so to speak. If only society in general would allow it maybe it might be more prevalent or do we need the resistance to prevail?
…in terms of great advertising do we need a degree of friction? Uncomfortability to produce great work that resonates. Does New York as a city offer that. Crispin Porter Bogusky and Fallon before them seem to get mentioned a lot and yet they are not in hell’s kitchen? Can it all be sweetness and light there? Can a pleasant environment produce great communication?
John,
Crispin Porter/ Fallon/ Wieden/ Goodby Berlin/ Chiat Day.
All good agencies and all not New York.
I’m just saying I prefer New York advertising.
Not saying everyone else is bad, that’s down to personal taste.
But me, I like the directness and power of New York advertising.
To quote one of my heroes, “At Doyle Dane they like to goose the consumer. But this is Carl Alley and we like to punch the consumer in the nose.”
A general consensus is always hard to come by in this industry but Dave I agree, it’s all down to personal taste.
Apologies for omitting Wieden/ Goodby Berlin/ Chiat Day from my top agencies that aren’t in New York City list. Going back to New York though Dave, is there any particular agency/work you admire?
New York. Toughest town in the world.