George Floyd’s brutal killing and the aftermath make it difficult to focus on work, right now. It’s a time for sorrow, tears, and eventually redemption. As individuals, we are all at different places on the grief scale. On the far extreme, some people are not grieving at all. Presumably, this is the America they want and voted for and will vote for again. The rest of us are hurting, and it is natural that we show it and experience it in our own ways.
Ad people are cultural sponges and this is rough duty at the moment. The COVID-19 pandemic has killed 110,000 Americans since March. The Black Lives Matter protests have occupied our minds and hearts for two weeks. How is anyone supposed to show up for work (if you have a job to show up to, that is) and concentrate on anything other than these two overlapping crises, and the economic fallout from both?
I do not have the answers to the above. Not even close. But I will add that it is okay to smile, to dance, to work, and so on while you also help to lift others up and cultivate consciousness on the planet, generally. What did American freedom fighter, Emma Goldman, say? She said, “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution.” She was the real deal, and the state imprisoned her, as the state does to people with anti-imperial convictions and a large following.
The video chat that follows isn’t dancing, but there are bears…
Dan Goldgeier and I discuss Forrester’s dire report that claims as many as 50,000 people in the agency business will lose their jobs this year and next year. Jay Pattisall, an analyst at Forrester and author of the report, believes, “As agencies are forced to reduce headcount, there’s ‘tremendous opportunity’ to reshape their talent pool. Agencies that embrace automation and hire talent with multidisciplinary expertise, as opposed to channel-specific knowledge, are better positioned.”
We also discuss the call for agencies to diversify and how much change we might realistically expect, in addition to the Lincoln Project’s hit job on Brad Parscale, (Trump’s campaign manager), and finally, we look at a positive new public service announcement for UnitedWay of NYC.
What we do not say in the chatter is how much the new PSA relies on the song to carry the spot (something we are seeing a lot of these days). This is the song:
It’s a good song.
If you want to see more work from The Lincoln Project (another topic during this week’s chatter), visit the organization’s YouTube page.
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