Bob Garfield Says Internet Full of Advertising Possibilities and 'Advertrocities'

Uber ad critic Bob Garfield says, in this iMediaConnection interview by Joe Jaffe, advertising is still about selling shit to people but the industry has lost its way and is now consumed with its pompous self and the size of its award case.

Creativity, regardless of medium is still at the center of advertising success and Garfield says the Internet provides limitless possibilities to be creative saying, "I’m so charged up about the Internet is because I believe it’s going to force people in the business to entirely rethink what constitutes creativity."

He cites a couple outstanding online ad campaigns but also balances that with the rampant abuse of the medium claiming, "The 'advertrocities' so gigantically outnumber the triumphs that I fear for the future." Garfield has high hopes for the medium but cautions, "We saw what Joe Camel did to big tobacco. Don’t let some obnoxious pop-up do that to the online industry, just as it’s in its infancy."

The Internet, as a medium, is on the cusp of replacing television as the primary medium for advertisers. No longer can one say the medium "is just not there yet." The Internet has been proven over and over again to deliver measurableable results to a finitely targeted audience with little to no waste. Once creatives get over the "cool factor" of the :30 television spot and realize the power and flexibility of the Internet, the medium will usurp television's current position as primary advertising vehicle.