Editor’s Note: The glamour of working in advertising is quickly fading. Young people are no longer attracted to the industry. We’re considered out of touch, our reputation is in the tank, and big data is hell-bent on making all of us obsolete, writes DeVito/Verdi founder Ellis Verdi.
There’s a client out there that needs a strong ad campaign – for themselves and for society. It’s the ad industry. The glamour of working in advertising is quickly fading, as young people are no longer attracted to the industry. We’re considered out of touch, our reputation hovers just below car salesman, and we’ve ceded dominance to big data behemoths hell-bent on making all of us obsolete.
But the bigger mission for us is to take action against a dangerous machine we helped fuel. As the ad industry shovelled billions of dollars into social media platforms in an effort to attract more and more eyeballs, we have to fess up to the fact that we are complicit in lowering cognitive performance among a whole generation. Ad dollars paid for much of the rise of social media.
Yes, the ad industry bears responsibility for contributing to the ‘Brain Rot’ of those who are hooked on and endless stream of distracting short-form videos on TikTok, Instagram and other platforms.
We must be the force behind a full-throttled campaign to warn parents and children of the dangers of social media bingeing, doom-scrolling and not living IRL It’s not just lower test scores we’re raising awareness of, but the mental health issues and socialization concerns associated with excessive social media consumption.
As an industry, we have a direct role in calling out the problem and offering ways to fix it. This is our Smokey Bear moment.
And if we’re being honest, we’re facing another forest fire we helped ignite: The reliance on AI for learning, research and creativity. We must come together not just to laud its promise, but also to warn of its potential dangers. See the NYTIMES article and the reported MIT research.
A strong, creative public service campaign would be an important first step in educating and impacting parents and children as to the dangers of these technologies. And in doing so, it’s a collective leap we take in re-establishing the importance and power of our industry.
This is a Super Bowl spot opportunity.
Founded nearly 35 years ago by Ellis Verdi, the independent New York ad agency DeVito/Verdi has gone on to become been one of the most acclaimed and influential advertising agencies in the industry. Named “Best Agency” six times by the American Association of Advertising Agencies, DeVito/Verdi has garnered thousands of creative awards and created some of the most memorable ads in a wide range of categories, including social causes, retail, food & beverage and healthcare.
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