Edward Boches gives me a headache

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… but he’s annoyed me enough that I’m blogging about it, so that’s something.

For those uncool enough to know already, Edward Boches is the Creative Director of Mullen, a large ad agency in Boston. He is probably a nice guy, but what I suspect explains why he is the head of Creative at Mullen and I’m not is a combination of anatomy, timing, background, and dumb luck. I’m not sure how else to explain some of the rubbish he shares on Twitter.

Today’s dump was the following:

The 30 percent rule: innovation calls for 20-somethings: Always make sure that 30 percent of the people involved… http://bit.ly/g0UCm4 about 2 hours ago via twitterfeed

Where do I start? How about ageism. Depending on who you hire, they could just as easily be as conservative and small-minded as the average person on the street. My research with changes in high school students over time suggests that they are in fact less intellectually daring than earlier generations.(As I say this, I’m holding my nose from the stink of generalizing about an entire generation. But if we’re talking cohorts, let’s talk.) Today’s students tend to operate with a close eye on praticality, the bottom line, and pleasing the Boss Man. So if Boches is in the market for a fresh cluster of toadies, by all means, why stop at 30% twenty somethings? Why not all?

Another factor is the gruesome reality that employers such as Mullen can easily pay these twentysomethings a factor or two less than more experienced personnel. What happens when Toadie #3 turns 30? Will he want a raise? Will he advance? Or will he be chucked to the curb to decompose along with the rest of the aged?

How about that ‘freshness of perspective’? That’s a great idea — sorta — hiring your own in-house group of naives. But why do they have to be in their twenties? Why not hire someone new to advertising who’s forty? Sixty? Fifteen? Again, the refresh rate here is rather brutal to anyone looking to build an actual career.

Finally (I’m running out of my head of steam), the best team is predicated by what you’re selling. I don’t really expect twentysomethings to relate to the Geritol set. And let’s not forget, I predict a serious run on designer adult diapers as the baby boomers continue to grey out. Does that audience respond to the “ask/tell” mentality of their grandchildren? Did they ‘get’ the Old Spice Man (being old and all)?

All to say that Ed Boches just reconfirms that advertising is no longer a thoughtful, creative enterprise but one in which the decision makers perpetually seek to clone themselves with younger versions, and to come up with the hippest, trendiest gimmick at any given moment. Sigh.

Wikileaks and Privacy

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Wilileaks’ disclosure of hundreds of documents related to US diplomacy is rightfully generating a lot of discussion. Was this an attack on US government policies? Was this a necessary act to promote greater transparency and accountability in government?

Most everyone has an opinion on Wikileaks, so here’s mine. It’s a bit like the actions of the pro-gay group in the 1980s/1990s that would forcibly ‘out’ closeted gay celebrities (Richard Chamberlain comes to mind). In a sense, American foreign policy has been similarly outed without its consent by an organization that supports greater transparency.

Whether you think that outing is a constructive practice or not — and there are good arguments on both sides — this episode begs the larger question of privacy. This looms large over the Internet, with today’s youth espousing ‘authenticity and transparency’ but while still engaging in the same time-honored roleplaying practices of their parents. The declaration of transparency, in fact, seems to be part of the game today.

Who isn’t for honesty, right? But there are gradations of honesty: the “that shirt you had on yesterday was really great” variation versus the “today’s shirt is really hideous” one. No individual or organization is wholly transparent — whose who claim they are can be identified as dishonest very quickly. : ) And I can’t say that I approve of Wikileaks outing US government tactics.

Perhaps this incident will lead to greater governmental disclosure and openness in its dealings. Or maybe it will spur low-tech approaches to information exchange. In this insightful piece by Umberto Eco, he observes technology moving, “crab-like”, in a backwards motion. As for the future of diplomacy:

I can’t help imagining state agents riding discreetly in stagecoaches along untrackable routes, bearing only memorised messages or, at most, the occasional document concealed in the heel of a shoe.