Stop. Please. Stop.

"...One of the other problems I have today is people have retreated to the edges of advertising. You know, they’re happy to do some small little campaign somewhere or they’re doing something on the net that hardly anybody sees and they’re getting awards for it and everybody’s cheering. But they’re not changing the way people feel or think."

--Sir John Hegarty

--
A couple days ago, an agency I used to work with, very publicly dropped the "D" and "G" from its name (just for a day or two, I suppose) to protest some stupidity uttered by some ass at Dolce & Gabbana. 

I can think of no better illustration of what Hegarty is talking about above.

We've stopped talking about the work we do, the businesses we've built, the brands we've fortified.

Instead, we promulgate our holiday videos, our 'service' days and dopey things like changing our name for a day.

We're so proud of these ephemeral and trivial efforts that we talk more about them than the successes we've brought, not to ourselves, but to our clients.

I don't know, or understand, this agency self-absorption. This maniacal self-promotion. Not through actual paid work we do, but through 'stuntification.'

To me it says all you can do is stand on a chair and play the saxophone while juggling tuna-salad sandwiches. 

It doesn't say you can do good work that works.

If you want attention, do something worthy of attention.