aaaaaaggghhh

Seth Stevenson's criticism of advertising is painfully uncritical. he wrote this article about Crispin Porter + Bogusky, an ad agency that got huge in the 2000s producing ads that targeted bros. Stevenson hated their campaign for Burger King: "its raunchy, bro-focused vibe rubbed me all the wrong ways, targeting the lowest common denominator...[their] campaigns valued provocation above substance and casual cruelty above inclusiveness." Their ads were sexist and prurient and gross; they didn't have Stevenson's values.


But values and "inclusiveness" are a pretty weird way to talk about an ad agency. Ad agencies don't have values. They sell stuff. You don't have values if your marketing campaign for Burger King is full of wholesome signifiers; you're exploiting wholesomeness for profit. It's kind of the opposite, actually.


God bless Crispin Porter & Bogusky for siccing themselves on one demographic that was, culturally, asking for it -- for the disgusting ads they produced for the disgusting food they loved. When Stevenson wails about how Burger King "could potentially find solid customers among women, children, and men who don’t wear Ed Hardy T-shirts," what kind of moron thinks ads for children bespeaks care for children?  Ads for children are the height of soulless, treacherous capitalism! Young children can't even distinguish ads from other kinds of programming! You evil fool, Seth Stevenson!


Stevenson, who watches ads professionally for Slate, has evidently seen too many of them to remember that they're not just entertainment. They're things to sell stuff to people, which entertainment makes easier.


He closes his article by discussing Crispin's "wholesome" transformation. They're doing a campaign for Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. It's got little kids in it, it's real fucking cute, and Stevenson is pleased. Good to know he sleeps well at night knowing children are loving unhealthy, world-destroying food just as much as they can. AAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGG