In perhaps the most entertaining talk given during Advertising Week Europe (or any conference for that matter), Bob Hoffman, legendary ad man and author of the Ad Contrarian ad blog, said marketers are bullshit artists who can’t be trusted. He claims they have been wrong about almost everything that has happened in the last ten years.
In his talk, entitled The Golden Age of Bullshit, he debunks the whole “advertising is dead” thing with these things called facts, things that seem to simply annoy and distract pundits, prognosticators and gurus regarding what’s really happening out there.
Best insight: “Every square inch of the fucking planet is covered in advertising and these schmucks are telling us it’s dead.”
But the net of his talk is very positive. Advertising is a live and well. Even TV which continues to grow despite those who said the DVR would kill it.
Another great quote: “The theory that people want to engage with brands online and share their enthusiasm with their friends and that their friends will share their enthusiasm with other friends through social media channels has turned out to be an infantile fantasy.”
With fact after fact after fact, Hoffman debunks ten years of bullshit that marketing prognosticators have barfed up and marketers have quickly ingested as if all that puke were the most delicious Kool Aid ever created.
You simply must watch this video.
