George and George Bernard Shaw.

A number of Ad Aged's regular readers have commented on the somewhat angry tone of my posts. That brings to mind something my namesake Shaw said to me one damp and musty morning as he was bouncing me on his bony (and by this time, very ancient) knee "George," he growled with his Irish brogue, "the power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." With those words, the old man let out a rattle and left us for another, perhaps better, world.

If my posts sound angry, it's because we SHOULD be angry. Most big agencies have burrowed their heads in the sand as they wait for the 1980s and the three network hegemon to return. Interactive agencies are designing the crap out of things, but, more often than not, forgetting the value of production values--using, say, an in-house account guy as VO on a web movie, forgetting about thought-leadership entirely and choosing to be a channel-executer instead, and most clients spend their days covering their not-inconsiderable client arses and foisting yet another, at best, invisible ad on the millions of 'ad-ignorers' out there.

Further, the entire marketing world has a semantic virus that often excuses god-awful off-brand work with phrases like, "well, it's not a brand ad, it's supposed to drive sales."

OK. I am angry. If you're not, your dosage is too high.

P.S. There is also a rampant pusillanimity in blogs because of anonymity. Well, I'm not anonymous. Send me a comment with your phone number and I (not someone among my burgeoning staff) will call you to discuss things. There's nothing I'd like more here than a heated debate.