The big, sparkly world of ad agencies

I used to think I wanted to be a part of the whole big-time ad agency scene...come up with the million dollar ideas for billion dollar companies with endless budgets. This dream started when the (now former) VP of Creative at McCann Erickson (largest ad agency worldwide) came and spoke to one of my college classes, and I was pretty starstruck with the acclaim, status, and money that comes with working on huge ad campaigns. Being able to say, "Yeah, those Christmas polar bear/Coke ads? I came up with that..." would have been pretty sweet, I thought. Not to mention the paycheck that comes along with it.

I kept in touch with the VP, who sort of became a mentor to me and even put a good word in for me when I applied for an internship. I was sufficiently freaked out that I could possibly land my dream position and was even prepared to give up my summer abroad trip to Europe that was in the works. But it turned out to be a graphic design position, an area in which I had zero experience. Apparently Microsoft Paint doesn't count. So needless to say, my hopes of working for McCann Erickson that summer were dashed - and just so you feel extra sorry for me, my trip to Europe never happened either, due to a last minute semi-emergency surgery. Good times!

In my next few years in college, my tune changed a little. I started looking a little more closely at the ethics of advertising...and wasn't sure how I felt about the whole "creating a need" thing that's so often the purpose of advertising. I took a class in PR my senior year and was hooked thereafter.

But sometimes, like when I've gone to the Wieden + Kennedy offices here in Portland, I get that itch again. Or when I see awesome ad campaigns, like the one I just intended on posting and saying how fun it'd be work on a campaign like this....but it turned into a huge post instead. (btw - W + K has the sweetest office space I've EVER seen. Look up pictures.)

The Nest, where they hold meetings. Jealous? I know I am...

Since this is getting ridiculously long, I am going to make another post for the campaign. Hey, it'll look like I blog more than I really do! Bonus!