A Lesson In Ethics: From A Miami Advertising Agency
March 30, 2008
“Now here’s a little story I’ve got to tell/
About one small agency you don’t know so well/
It started way back in history/
With a writer, a client, and Miami – see/”
Client for an Australian bank is meeting with a creative team at a small-ish Miami agency. Client says to Jewish writer:
“If you want inspiration on how to persuade people, you should read Hitler’s Mein Kampf — His words inspired millions!”
Jewish writer walks out of room. The agency doesn’t say anything to client, but later takes the writer off of the account. Now, I’m sure that this writer didn’t want to be on the account anyway after such grossness, but I’m wondering… do you think the agency should of resigned the client, said something? The floor is open for your comments.
March 31, 2008 at 12:20 am
they should have reported the exec to his bosses, that’s for sure.
March 31, 2008 at 2:27 am
Well, the ‘inspiration’ part is very wrong to say in that context. As for the factual part of ‘persuading’ people, that is true. Evil as he was, the book did persuade. I wonder if that was the client just saying something that came out off-color or if he really was a racist.
If it was the former, shrug it off as bad taste this one time. If it was the latter, though, the client’s boss needs to be told.
March 31, 2008 at 2:48 am
We were pitching Howard Stern once. While I can enjoy his humor, our managing director put a female CD on the job who found it uncomfortable. I threatened to quit to the CEO and the job disappeared. My MD and I never got along after that, but sometimes you have to have a little balls. Hey, and I was just a lowly AD. Whether there was a Jewish writer in the room or not, using Hitler is pretty disgusting. I would have walked out.
March 31, 2008 at 3:36 am
First of all, I’d fire any client for referring to Mein Kampf over Tipping Point. And whether you are Jewish or Christian or Muslim or whatever, any reference to the writings of a crazed, insecure, megalomaniac as inspiration for creative writing is grounds for a severe ass-kicking behind the woodshed.
March 31, 2008 at 7:33 am
the client clearly hasn’t read “Mein Kampf” (which I have – in german even). that book is full of gibberish and non sequitors. it’s barely readable and serves as a stellar example for how nuts Hitler was. the old saying in germany is that if people had actually read that Schinken, they wouldn’t have voted for him. which the majority didn’t anyway but that’s a different story.
to answer your question: fuck the client.
March 31, 2008 at 8:55 am
I think you mean to say “should have” instead of “should of”.
March 31, 2008 at 9:04 am
Nix the client and also make sure you tell the clients boss why you don’t think it will work out.
Seriously, like required_name says it’s full of rubbish and not something anyone would refer to as a inspirational book if they had actually read it. If the client was saying this to be “edgy” or something then call him on it right there.
Also I second “jewish writers or not” in the room, it’s irrelevant if there are any jewish people on the team it’s offensive no matter how you slice it. I’ve heard clients say some odd things about “africans” (yeah the entire continent) in a meeting and they were met with cold hard stares from everyone on the agency side. We were waiting for him to dig the hole deeper so that we may call him on it – but he found his brain at the last second and apologized profusely as “that didn’t come out right”. Sometimes you gotta give people a chance to explain themselves too.
March 31, 2008 at 11:50 am
Was that the Australian client from the Commonwealth Bank?
If so the account went to Goodby. I wonder how Rich would have reacted!?!?!
March 31, 2008 at 12:05 pm
You’re all making too big a deal out of it, but Bob was closest…gotta know the context and the relationship. You think the agency is going to resign any client these days? Sure, that’ll happen. I think the writer SHOULD read Mein Kampf (at least the Cliff Notes version) and start quoting the hell out of it next time the client is in. But he should also discuss Martin Buber and Gertrude Stein while he’s at it. Here’s his chance to show the client that he’s an idiot, in a subtle way.
March 31, 2008 at 12:31 pm
that’s just gross. without knowing the context (was the client serious? was there an inside joke we’re not privy to?) i only wish that agency would have the cojones to resign it. or at least demand the resignation of the person who said it. sadly, it won’t happen. and it speaks to the state of our own ethical-to-a-point tendencies. to quote nick naylor: “I just need to pay the mortgage.”
March 31, 2008 at 1:42 pm
If any of you think an agency is going to resign decent billing because of the comments of one dumb client, you’re out of your minds.
Welcome to the world we live in, where people say stupid things, all the time. The best you could hope for is that the person would be taken off the job, or atleast taken out of contact with the agency. The chances of seeing that guy fired? about 5%, and the agency resigning the account? 0.01%.
March 31, 2008 at 1:49 pm
What if the writer was hired for that account? You resign the account and fire the writer? Stupid. There are other ways to handle it, without simply being reactive. None of us were in the room. We don’t know the relationships or discussions that led to this statement. History recognizes Joseph Goebbels as a master of propaganda. If I say that in the workplace does that make me an anti-semite?
March 31, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Everyone from the agency should have walked out.
March 31, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Hey,stop with all the huffy puff walking out of the room, resigning clients before they are actually clients, etc. What happened to the leader in the room saying, “what do you mean by that?” Communication. And listening. Age old tools that seem to be missing here. Easy to jump on what sounds like a racist, but if people would have challenged the client a bit, maybe there was a point that was not clearly made. At least you would know WHEN to walk out of the room. People in our business have got to grow up. Clients pay us. We have to listen. We have to coach and train them. If we can’t communicate at that level as partners, then we have to resign. Or wait to be fired. Bad economy or not, you have to have principals…but you have to know when to execute upon them.
March 31, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Unfortunately, some pretty freakish racist and sexist attitudes are tolerated in many companies when the offender is in a position of power. I’d like to think this is something that is changing but who knows.
April 14, 2008 at 1:20 pm
I agree with redbullman. Why wasn’t the guy who said asked to explain himself? Seems like the Jewish guy who walked out didnt deal with it properly. Perhaps the guy who said it would have not been able to explain himself and looked momentarily silly. Then perhaps he would have revised his borderline anti-semitic attitude.
Certainly the situation was mismanaged by whoever was in charge in this situation.
By the way I’m Jewish and make sure I pull up anyone who comes with nonsense like that. Doesn’t need to be confrontational either.