The advertising industry has long subjected itself to the scrutiny of awards juries, trade publications and holding company shareholders. But a recent survey by Campaign posed a more exacting challenge: asking the children of agency executives to describe what their mothers actually do for a living.
The results, as one might expect from respondents who have not yet learned to couch criticism in the language of "alignment" and "optimization," were pointed.
"At home she takes orders, but at work she's a boss," said the 8-year-old daughter of one executive, delivering in nine words what might otherwise require a 360-degree performance review.
A 5-year-old offered a structural analysis of the business model: "You take calls all day and make money so you can buy us food and toys." A 10-year-old demonstrated an emerging grasp of organizational ambiguity: "You're the boss, but not the boss of everybody."
Perhaps the most concise summary of media planning came from a 6-year-old who told her mother, "When I am watching something, and I get interrupted, that's what you do."
(One suspects the holding companies would prefer a different framing.)
The children proved capable of diplomatic honesty as well. A 13-year-old told her mother she "makes ads and commercials," adding, "And it's cool and all, but no offense, Mom, I don't like watching most of those. But yours are good. Nice job."
An 8-year-old named Ellington provided what may be the most accurate job description in the survey: "My mom makes ads for companies and presses random buttons for work. Sometimes she has work lunches to talk about work and things and eat." He concluded that her job is "kind of cool and, at the same time, a tiny bit boring."
Which is to say, he has been paying attention.
Original story published in campaignlive.com: "Question of the Week: Children of adland describe their mother’s roles | Campaign US"