Yeah, yeah I know-- my favorite web comic sucks
September 9, 2007 12:19 PM Subscribe
If you've ever worked with advertising or marketing "professionals," you've probably encountered this guy. Or this guy. Or her. Or one of these three guys.
Those first two guys?
They post here, don't they?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 12:46 PM on September 9, 2007
They post here, don't they?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 12:46 PM on September 9, 2007
Bill Hick's take on advertising and marketing "professionals".
posted by Mr_Zero at 12:47 PM on September 9, 2007 [2 favorites]
posted by Mr_Zero at 12:47 PM on September 9, 2007 [2 favorites]
In Minneapolis, add this tag line to any frame:
"You know that thing for Target? We did that."
posted by gimonca at 12:53 PM on September 9, 2007
"You know that thing for Target? We did that."
posted by gimonca at 12:53 PM on September 9, 2007
Hmm... I worked with all these guys when I was earning a crust in Redmond...
posted by jeffamaphone at 12:54 PM on September 9, 2007
posted by jeffamaphone at 12:54 PM on September 9, 2007
Well, I totally disagree. Because, you see, if you find a truth that can't be denied, then this is the essence and emotion that's in inherent in its value and it will be seen that way by those who see it. The critical time is the process between the creative idea and the viewer. But whatever. That's it. This post is devoid of meaning. I'm done talking, you... you... pixelfuckers.
posted by miss lynnster at 12:55 PM on September 9, 2007
posted by miss lynnster at 12:55 PM on September 9, 2007
What? No hate for the vermin who put people in FMRI machines to find more scientific ways of manipulating people?
posted by [expletive deleted] at 12:56 PM on September 9, 2007
posted by [expletive deleted] at 12:56 PM on September 9, 2007
Seems spot on to me, but I left the "Ad Biz" about 6 years ago. Do they still wear trucker caps and talk like that, or is that comic a few years old?
posted by psmealey at 12:56 PM on September 9, 2007
posted by psmealey at 12:56 PM on September 9, 2007
Only vaguely apropos, but the new AMC TV series Mad Men is a delicious take on the 1960s world of Madison Avenue. Plenty of douches to go around.
posted by Nelson at 1:02 PM on September 9, 2007
posted by Nelson at 1:02 PM on September 9, 2007
Seeeing as fMRI is the new phrenology, it never lead to the successful manipulation of anyone...
posted by christopher.taylor at 1:02 PM on September 9, 2007
posted by christopher.taylor at 1:02 PM on September 9, 2007
I'm not in advertising and all. But wap interfaces?? Didn't that fizzle out 6 yrs ago?
posted by jouke at 1:03 PM on September 9, 2007
posted by jouke at 1:03 PM on September 9, 2007
Why do I get the feeling the cartoonist lightbox enthusiast who made these is just as big of a twat as his subjects?
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 1:06 PM on September 9, 2007 [3 favorites]
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 1:06 PM on September 9, 2007 [3 favorites]
Seeeing as fMRI is the new phrenology, it never lead to the successful manipulation of anyone...
But it's the thought that counts.
posted by [expletive deleted] at 1:09 PM on September 9, 2007 [2 favorites]
But it's the thought that counts.
posted by [expletive deleted] at 1:09 PM on September 9, 2007 [2 favorites]
Please stop making me think about work douchebags on a Sunday.
posted by sleepy pete at 1:13 PM on September 9, 2007
posted by sleepy pete at 1:13 PM on September 9, 2007
<derail>
Does anyone recognise the font used in the dialog in these comics?
</derail>
posted by wannalol at 1:18 PM on September 9, 2007
Does anyone recognise the font used in the dialog in these comics?
</derail>
posted by wannalol at 1:18 PM on September 9, 2007
So, who sponsored this episode of the Hipster's Two Minutes Hate?
posted by felix betachat at 1:23 PM on September 9, 2007
posted by felix betachat at 1:23 PM on September 9, 2007
do hipsters hate ad people, or just the ad people that pretend to be hipsters?
posted by psmealey at 1:31 PM on September 9, 2007
posted by psmealey at 1:31 PM on September 9, 2007
Seems spot on to me, but I left the "Ad Biz" about 6 years ago.
I currently do web development in an ad agency and it's pretty spot on, as a composite character anyway. Disturbingly so, even. I'm actually wondering if the author is one of my coworkers, as several of the specific brands mentioned are real clients of my employer, and I've actually heard many of these lines at work.
posted by scottreynen at 1:39 PM on September 9, 2007
I currently do web development in an ad agency and it's pretty spot on, as a composite character anyway. Disturbingly so, even. I'm actually wondering if the author is one of my coworkers, as several of the specific brands mentioned are real clients of my employer, and I've actually heard many of these lines at work.
posted by scottreynen at 1:39 PM on September 9, 2007
live in east village? check. listen to obscure beck remixes and propellerheads? check. only go above 14th for work? kinda check. annoyed by midwesterners? check.
shit! am i that guy?!? good thing i don't work in advertising, and am not remotely elitist. *looks around nervously*
posted by Mach5 at 1:52 PM on September 9, 2007
shit! am i that guy?!? good thing i don't work in advertising, and am not remotely elitist. *looks around nervously*
posted by Mach5 at 1:52 PM on September 9, 2007
I anoint the suppurating wound of my self-loathing with the soothing balm of a six-figure salary.
That's what I'm supposed to say, yes?
posted by Haruspex at 1:58 PM on September 9, 2007 [2 favorites]
That's what I'm supposed to say, yes?
posted by Haruspex at 1:58 PM on September 9, 2007 [2 favorites]
Isn't it almost a decade too late to make fun of people who like Beck and Propellerheads?
posted by fleetmouse at 2:00 PM on September 9, 2007
posted by fleetmouse at 2:00 PM on September 9, 2007
wap interfaces?
Yeah, pretty much all of the things on that bingo card have peaked and are useless now.
I think the guy who made these is a pretty middling ad guy himself, actually.
And ... yeah it's all pretty accurate.
posted by blacklite at 2:03 PM on September 9, 2007
Yeah, pretty much all of the things on that bingo card have peaked and are useless now.
I think the guy who made these is a pretty middling ad guy himself, actually.
And ... yeah it's all pretty accurate.
posted by blacklite at 2:03 PM on September 9, 2007
Isn't it almost a decade too late to make fun of people who like Beck and Propellerheads?
Wait, you're right, uh. Between that and the outdated tech... maybe we've stumbled upon a black hole to 1997! Or maybe that's why this guy is so bitter, hah.
posted by blacklite at 2:04 PM on September 9, 2007
Wait, you're right, uh. Between that and the outdated tech... maybe we've stumbled upon a black hole to 1997! Or maybe that's why this guy is so bitter, hah.
posted by blacklite at 2:04 PM on September 9, 2007
Encountered them? Hell, I know where the bodies are buried.
posted by ryoshu at 2:10 PM on September 9, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by ryoshu at 2:10 PM on September 9, 2007 [1 favorite]
Back further. This could be a grumble from the bullpen of McMann & Tate. Just sub the tech with "that new Linotype" gizmo. And add George Lois storming in with a .38 for moving the headline down 12 pts.
posted by hal9k at 2:16 PM on September 9, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by hal9k at 2:16 PM on September 9, 2007 [1 favorite]
I'm not in advertising, but some of these caricatures strike me as being as much New Yorker douchebaggery as "marketing douchebaggery." But then, the marketing folks I know are douchebags in completely different ways than these advertising douchebags are.
posted by majick at 2:28 PM on September 9, 2007
posted by majick at 2:28 PM on September 9, 2007
from his blog:
Oh, and there's also talk of an Ad Douche Movie in the works. So if that happens you will all be the first to know.
I think there needs to be a new character added: inexplicably-thinks-his-one-note-internet-joke-thats-kind-of-amusing-for-3-seconds-needs-to-be-a-feature-film guy.
posted by drjimmy11 at 2:31 PM on September 9, 2007
Oh, and there's also talk of an Ad Douche Movie in the works. So if that happens you will all be the first to know.
I think there needs to be a new character added: inexplicably-thinks-his-one-note-internet-joke-thats-kind-of-amusing-for-3-seconds-needs-to-be-a-feature-film guy.
posted by drjimmy11 at 2:31 PM on September 9, 2007
Oh yeah? Well people who live below 14th street annoy ME. So there.
posted by Justinian at 2:49 PM on September 9, 2007
posted by Justinian at 2:49 PM on September 9, 2007
or is that comic a few years old?
I first saw these circulated a year or so ago, so they're at least that old.
posted by ChasFile at 2:55 PM on September 9, 2007
I first saw these circulated a year or so ago, so they're at least that old.
posted by ChasFile at 2:55 PM on September 9, 2007
1. Douchebaggery is in not vocation-specific.
2. Using the word "douchebag" is the easiest means of becoming one.
3. Your favourite stereotype sucks.
posted by Reggie Digest at 3:04 PM on September 9, 2007
2. Using the word "douchebag" is the easiest means of becoming one.
3. Your favourite stereotype sucks.
posted by Reggie Digest at 3:04 PM on September 9, 2007
huhuh... Peter Johnson... huhuh
posted by Reggie Digest at 3:06 PM on September 9, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by Reggie Digest at 3:06 PM on September 9, 2007 [1 favorite]
That above/below 14th street dog hasn't hunted in years. If you can afford to live in Manhattan at all, face it, you're too rich to be boho.
posted by psmealey at 3:22 PM on September 9, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by psmealey at 3:22 PM on September 9, 2007 [1 favorite]
I'm a recovering adman and I have to say, once more, that all of those people exist in abundance. Upon looking at the the creator of those "comics" URL, though, it's clear he's just another one of the people he mocks, perhaps even worse.
His awareness of those around him is null and void since he can't see that he is one of them. And his ironic, too-cool-to-care, "professional sell-out" self-tag--how clever!
Clearly, admitting you're a sell-out makes it better. Looking back, I can't believe I worked in advertising for nearly 6 years of my life.
Once I realized how empty I felt and that I was doing more harm than good in that line of work, I changed, and decided to leave the business.
Now I feel sorry for ad types the same way I do for people who still smoke cigarettes. Wake up, people.
You only live once! Why not make it matter?
posted by unwordy at 3:28 PM on September 9, 2007 [4 favorites]
His awareness of those around him is null and void since he can't see that he is one of them. And his ironic, too-cool-to-care, "professional sell-out" self-tag--how clever!
Clearly, admitting you're a sell-out makes it better. Looking back, I can't believe I worked in advertising for nearly 6 years of my life.
Once I realized how empty I felt and that I was doing more harm than good in that line of work, I changed, and decided to leave the business.
Now I feel sorry for ad types the same way I do for people who still smoke cigarettes. Wake up, people.
You only live once! Why not make it matter?
posted by unwordy at 3:28 PM on September 9, 2007 [4 favorites]
These were all posted over a year ago. This comic is based on an actual guy I worked with back in 2000. He and I moved with a company from Atlanta to San Francisco to make internet cartoons. We worked in the "interactive department" of a small ad agency in Atlanta. That's what they called the web side of the ad house. The senior account whatever worked some deal with a developer of a "walled garden" website for children. He then took me, the Flash animator, and Mongo, the web art director, and an illustrator with him on his march to San Francisco and internet stardom.
Well, we made a bunch of crap cartoons for two years. We even won an award for one of the less shitty ones!! When it inevitably crashed and burned along with the rest of the intarwebs, everyone went their separate ways. The CEO (senior account guy from ad agency) pulled up stakes and went back to Atlanta with the illustrator. I stayed in SF and Mongo took off for NYC and some big name web house that also crashed and burned eventually.
That was the last I had heard from any of those guys. And then about a year or two ago, I saw Mongo's viral ad on youtube - the very viral campaign of which this toon makes fun. I don't know if any Mefites are familiar with this train wreck. I cringed when I saw it.
This link goes to the only evidence I can find that it ever existed. The guy on the left in the small picture is Mongo. I only know this because I'm familiar with the situation. When I first knew him I wanted to punch him. He was to me a typical Northeasterner - not a typical ad agency type in my mind. Atlanta's ad industry had egos but nothing so enormous as Mongo's. I didn't know douchebaggery at the level depicted in those toons. I just thought it was a New York thing.
Well my post was rambling and pointless, but just thought I would share.
posted by strontiumdog at 3:43 PM on September 9, 2007 [4 favorites]
Well, we made a bunch of crap cartoons for two years. We even won an award for one of the less shitty ones!! When it inevitably crashed and burned along with the rest of the intarwebs, everyone went their separate ways. The CEO (senior account guy from ad agency) pulled up stakes and went back to Atlanta with the illustrator. I stayed in SF and Mongo took off for NYC and some big name web house that also crashed and burned eventually.
That was the last I had heard from any of those guys. And then about a year or two ago, I saw Mongo's viral ad on youtube - the very viral campaign of which this toon makes fun. I don't know if any Mefites are familiar with this train wreck. I cringed when I saw it.
This link goes to the only evidence I can find that it ever existed. The guy on the left in the small picture is Mongo. I only know this because I'm familiar with the situation. When I first knew him I wanted to punch him. He was to me a typical Northeasterner - not a typical ad agency type in my mind. Atlanta's ad industry had egos but nothing so enormous as Mongo's. I didn't know douchebaggery at the level depicted in those toons. I just thought it was a New York thing.
Well my post was rambling and pointless, but just thought I would share.
posted by strontiumdog at 3:43 PM on September 9, 2007 [4 favorites]
One of the perks of living in a flyover state is that douchebags fly right over. Hicks, for all their faults, seem to exhibit a measure of sincerity now and then.
posted by TrialByMedia at 3:46 PM on September 9, 2007
posted by TrialByMedia at 3:46 PM on September 9, 2007
This is how cultural throwbacks in out-of-the-world places like Somewhere, USA and Littletown, Inc. imagine how it is in actual destinations such as Anybigcity, Earth.
*superhumanly suppresses depressing shudder*
However, why it is FPP'd in Blue is one of those if you play you lose sort-of tests, isn't it?
Alright then. Here I play not.
posted by humannaire at 3:49 PM on September 9, 2007 [1 favorite]
*superhumanly suppresses depressing shudder*
However, why it is FPP'd in Blue is one of those if you play you lose sort-of tests, isn't it?
Alright then. Here I play not.
posted by humannaire at 3:49 PM on September 9, 2007 [1 favorite]
humannaire, trialbymedia: take it from this city-dweller, there are as many sincere hicks in the big city as anywhere else, and there are plenty of pretentious douchebags in any small town. So give the silly city mouse/country mouse fight a rest.
posted by jonmc at 3:53 PM on September 9, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by jonmc at 3:53 PM on September 9, 2007 [1 favorite]
The only thing that makes me feel better is that almost none of these guys are actually natives of my home city. They're all from Ohio or wherever the hell they grow pod people.
posted by 1adam12 at 3:53 PM on September 9, 2007
posted by 1adam12 at 3:53 PM on September 9, 2007
Damn, all I had to do was search Metafilter to find more evidence:
Agency.com
posted by strontiumdog at 4:03 PM on September 9, 2007
Agency.com
posted by strontiumdog at 4:03 PM on September 9, 2007
Propellerheads?
Did I bump my head and wake up in 1998?
posted by Senor Cardgage at 4:07 PM on September 9, 2007
Did I bump my head and wake up in 1998?
posted by Senor Cardgage at 4:07 PM on September 9, 2007
For the record, strontiumdog, that guy sucked not because his name was mongo but because he failed to live up to the name.
With great power comes great responsibility. I should know.
posted by mongonikol at 4:35 PM on September 9, 2007
With great power comes great responsibility. I should know.
posted by mongonikol at 4:35 PM on September 9, 2007
[copy-rewrite for jonmc/not my market but other respected consumer:]
People see other people as seeing things this way?
How small-minded.
Where's the creativity or humor? It makes me nauseated.
I really appreciate stuff like this that is done well. But this is like the some idea of ad agency foibling done piss-poorly.
posted by humannaire at 4:55 PM on September 9, 2007
People see other people as seeing things this way?
How small-minded.
Where's the creativity or humor? It makes me nauseated.
I really appreciate stuff like this that is done well. But this is like the some idea of ad agency foibling done piss-poorly.
posted by humannaire at 4:55 PM on September 9, 2007
Well, as far as naming names goes, this one calls out Agency.com pretty explicitly.
posted by bashos_frog at 5:06 PM on September 9, 2007
posted by bashos_frog at 5:06 PM on September 9, 2007
I gotta remember to refresh the page after I get back from dinner and before I post...
posted by bashos_frog at 5:16 PM on September 9, 2007
posted by bashos_frog at 5:16 PM on September 9, 2007
Creative Department douchebag doesn't know how to spell Neil Peart.
Plonk.
posted by doublesix at 5:17 PM on September 9, 2007
Plonk.
posted by doublesix at 5:17 PM on September 9, 2007
Sorry, but I don't think the name Mongo has anywhere left to go but downhill after this guy.
posted by miss lynnster at 5:59 PM on September 9, 2007
posted by miss lynnster at 5:59 PM on September 9, 2007
Am I missing something here? All the links in the FPP are just blank pages except for a link labeled "next" that goes to another blank page.
posted by octothorpe at 6:22 PM on September 9, 2007
posted by octothorpe at 6:22 PM on September 9, 2007
Oh nevermind, I turned off AdBlock and could see them after a refresh. Kinda lame anyways.
posted by octothorpe at 6:26 PM on September 9, 2007
posted by octothorpe at 6:26 PM on September 9, 2007
Why does everyone from New York think the rest of the world cares about them?
posted by ethnomethodologist at 6:56 PM on September 9, 2007
posted by ethnomethodologist at 6:56 PM on September 9, 2007
I'm a New Yorker and I don't think the rest of the world cares about us.
However, speaking as an American, I just know ;^) the rest of the world cares about us.
We're like, the only country that matters. Duh!
posted by unwordy at 8:30 PM on September 9, 2007
However, speaking as an American, I just know ;^) the rest of the world cares about us.
We're like, the only country that matters. Duh!
posted by unwordy at 8:30 PM on September 9, 2007
reggie digest: the new term is douchepuddle...
posted by evilgenius at 10:39 PM on September 9, 2007
posted by evilgenius at 10:39 PM on September 9, 2007
My New Advertising Technique Is Unstoppable
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 8:55 AM on September 10, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 8:55 AM on September 10, 2007 [1 favorite]
Sorry, but I don't think the name Mongo has anywhere left to go but downhill after this guy.
miss lynster, are you telling me you know not of the greatness of Blazing Saddles? That Mongo is Alex Karras aka Webster's dad!
"Mongo like candy"
"Mongo like Sheriff Tate"
...or my personal fave...
"Mongo pawn in game of life"
I've heard 'em all, like, for life.
In other news, Mongo was also the name of the giant gingerbread man from Shrek.
posted by mongonikol at 8:14 PM on September 12, 2007
miss lynster, are you telling me you know not of the greatness of Blazing Saddles? That Mongo is Alex Karras aka Webster's dad!
"Mongo like candy"
"Mongo like Sheriff Tate"
...or my personal fave...
"Mongo pawn in game of life"
I've heard 'em all, like, for life.
In other news, Mongo was also the name of the giant gingerbread man from Shrek.
posted by mongonikol at 8:14 PM on September 12, 2007
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posted by kuujjuarapik at 12:25 PM on September 9, 2007