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Below is an email I got from Brandie, in reaction to my HACK AND SLACK entry.

The Hack
by Luke Sullivan

The first warning sign you're in the presence of a Hack is that he'll somehow bring up his One Good Ad from Way Back. He won't tell it that. In fact, he'll show it to you and say something like, "This is the kind of work we do here." That's when you notice the ad is on brittle, yellowing paper from a magazine called Collier's.

All Hacks have one of these ads. They made their name on it. They've been riding its tired old back for decades and look about as silly doing it as Adam West now looks in his old Batman suit.

It can be a great ad. Doesn't matter. Ask yourself, what else have they done? Talented people with a gift for advertising keep doing great work, time and again, for variety of clients.

Another sign that should send your Hack-O-Meter into the red is how they talk. And how they do talk. In fact, talk is all a Hack can do, being incapable as he is of producing an ad that a fly won't lay eggs on. He'll know the buzzwords. And worse, he'll have a few of his own. "At this agency, we believe in advertising with Clutter-Busting Power."

Agencies are the way they are for a reason. It’s no accident they’re doing awful work. They have clients on one side asking for awful work, Hacks on the other side giving it to them, and a guy in the middle counting all the money. Talk is cheap. Especially talk about how “we’re going to turn this place around.”

Kuya, according to Luke, YOU ARE NOT A HACK. You are a writer, a Good creative working hard to perfect your craft. And the fact the people laughed at your script means you wrote something that worked. You should see David with his hands on his head looking for words trying to make me laugh. And he wouldn’t stop until I have that smile on my face saying he’s written something clever or witty or heck, even funny. Your story is not far off from Tony’s or Nonon’s nor Tin’s too. In fact it’s a good story to tell my students. To remind them they have to work hard at ideas and it’s very rare good ideas come out on the first try.

Brandie

Brandie's always been my guidance counselor, gimik guru, fashion consultant, makulit sibling, and in a way, my first Creative Director. Heck, it was his bright idea that I try getting a job in an ad agency.

Thanks, bro!






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