One Central Question.

I don't know if I read it or I made it up, but everyone who breathes should carry around a stickie note with them at all times, or if you're the tattooing sort, have some words tattooed someplace prominent, a few simple words.

"Why would anyone care?"

The world is entirely too much with us and there is all too much noise surrounding us at all times.

But it seems like everything that's put on TV or every ad you see online--if you're not blocking ads with a simple download or using the Duck-Duck-Go browser--is filled with absolute crap that does nothing more than fill the surrounding atmosphere with a cacophony of stupidity that could veritably make your head fall off.

I'm not talking about the conversations people have. Invariably if you're living with someone or you have office mates, you wind up talking about dopey stuff. How the cookie sheet's gotten warped. Did you take the garbage pail in from the yard? The dog-groomer is expected to come today between 4AM and 9PM.

That's normal and natural stuff. It reminds me of the dialogue of life as written by a suburban and brain-dead Samuel Beckett. 

That's not what gets me.

What gets me is when you and I produce work--and then publicize it. And that work, work that is a reflection of ourselves and our professional judgment, is so empty, so devoid of life, spark, creativity, ideas and ingenuity, but we promote it anyhow.

I don't want to disparage an entire generation and say such a circumstance is evidence of an "everyone gets a trophy culture," but why are we promoting work that is so devoid of life, decency and even honesty?

Where are our standards? Where is our essential belief in quality, or remarkableness?

Yes, I have written a blog post every day for the past 15 years, and some of them suck. But that's just me. No one is paying me for this. And if they suck, well, that's life. I'll come back with something better tomorrow. Because as I write this blog, it's a daily exercise and you can't begrudge anyone a bad day.

I'm talking about work for clients that ostensibly reflects on the agency that's made it and the client's brand.

"Why would anyone care?"

Last week, I saw this monstrosity from WPP. My younger daughter created better-written, better-produced videos on maggots having sex with snails for science class when she was 13. This is produced, then promoted by one of the world's largest (if you believe their numbers, communications companies with fewer than 2-percent of their employees over 60.)

In short, where are your standards? Your taste? Your respect for the "airwaves" or viewer. Why would you put your name on THIS? Are you so in need of praise that you have no self-awareness of stench?

Just a minute ago, I ran across this on Agency Spy. Why in god's name would you put your name on this? Why would you associate your agency with this? Do you think this is good? And if you do, why would any client want to work with you?

Do you think anyone would care?

Everyone, regardless of their profession, occasionally, in the language of the guys broadcasting Knicks' games, stinks up the court now and again. There's no crime in sucking now and again.

When you do, you chalk it up to a bad day and try to hide the result. You also redouble your efforts the next time out of the box. You work harder to show that your suck was anomalous, not an overture to the opera that's coming.

What worries me about this is it appears the entities involved can't tell the difference between mundane and good. They haven't or won't ask themselves, "why would anyone care?"