The art of capitalism

Lee Clow, the man largely responsible for all of Apple’s ad campaigns since 1984, in Doug Pay’s Art & Copy.

In the U.S. the average person is bombarded by 5,000 advertisements a day, we are told early on in Doug Pray’s documentary Art & Copy.

Advertising is so ubiquitous in our world that it comes as a bit of surprise how little we know about the people behind the ads. Pray’s film aims to educate us about how the creative teams at ad agencies took over and changed the entire industry. He does this by taking us through the impetus and development of some of the most iconic ad images in history, including the Volkswagen Beetle ads (“Think Small”), “Where’s the Beef?”, Apple’s “1984” commercial, “I want my MTV,” “Just Do It,” “Got Milk” and so many more.

Although full of interesting facts and larger-than-life personalities, the film doesn’t pander to its audience in the same way that advertising does. The filmmaker has adopted a more contemplative style, which works well to give pause between the barrages of advertising images throughout.

The pacing also gives us a break from the self-congratulatory nature of most of the advertisers we encounter. Of course, these are advertisers, their jobs are to sell you everything, so it’s no surprise that they spend almost all of their screen time attempting to convince you of how great their industry is.

Jeff Goodby, a San Fransisco advertising executive, calls his business “Capitalist Art” at one point, before he goes on pontificating endlessly about the value of his industry as a pseudo art form. His argument almost wins during a segment in which Nike’s “Just Do It” ad campaign is dissected and praised for all its proactive messages about healthy living.

The way the ad men and women talk, you could almost believe that the whole project was nothing more than an altruistic attempt to see the youth of the world healthier, happier and more productive. Of course, the constant recurrence of the imposing Nike logo reminds us over and over that what is really important is wearing the right shoes, shirts and sunglasses while playing said sports.

Pray’s balance works well throughout most of the movie to keep his audience thinking about what they’re watching. But in the final few minutes he throws all objectivity out the door and creates a montage which so unabashedly celebrates advertising as the saviour and unifier of humanity that I couldn’t help feeling that the whole film was nothing more than a long commercial for the advertising business.

Published in Volume 64, Number 25 of The Uniter (April 1, 2010)

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