Art & Copy: What's it Really About?

Art & Copy is a 2009 documentary that focuses on the advertising industry in the U.S.  If features interviews from many different perspectives from head of advertising departments to the people who physically put the ads on the billboards.  The majority of the film follows the advertisers responsible for the advertising revolution from the 1960s.  The film is very interesting and is a must see for people planning to go into the advertising industry.

I find it interesting that the people featured in this film have had such a profound impact on all of our lives, yet I had never heard of any them when their names were mentioned.  They were responsible for some of the most revolutionary advertisements in the history of the industry and hardly anyone has heard of them.  Sure we've all heard of the products their selling, but it seems disrespectful that we do not know who they are.  

The film seems to focus mostly on the creative aspect of the advertising industry.  There is not a lot of criticism towards the industry.  It's more of a celebration of creativity.  The film features interviews from people like Hal Riney, Lee Clow, and Dan Wieden.  They are just a few of advertising's giants.  Hal Riney did a commercial for Crocker Bank in the 1970s that featured "We've Only Just Begun" by the Carpenters.  Although ultimately the campaign failed, it really reinforces one of the film's main themes, not being afraid to fail.  Failure is something that advertisers face day in and day out, but it's an essential aspect of the industry.  Many advertisers, including the big names, have to make very difficult decisions and take a lot of chances.  They are successful because of the chances they take.  They are successful because they are not afraid to fail.

Lee Clow, another advertiser mentioned in Art & Copy, was a big part of Apple's 1984 Mackintosh campaign.  He also was co-creator of the "Think Different" slogan.  That slogan not only helped the sale of Apple computers, but it also another theme of the film.  Being an effective advertising is about thinking differently and pushing unique ideas.  Personally, Apple's 1984 commercial is one of my favorite ads and it is so memorable.  This is a perfect representation of this filming of wanting to do something unique and completely revolutionary.  It was essentially the equivalent of a movie trailer.  It featured a dystopian society with an incredibly dull setting that consisting of blues and grays.  A female protagonist is introduced and she is dressed in a white tanktop and orange shorts.  There is a large television screen with a man talking to a large group of people sitting in chairs.  They are fixated on the television screen.  The woman runs up and hurls a sledgehammer at the screen and destroys it and the Apple logo appears in rainbow colors.  The commercial is incredible and has a lot to do with the success of Apple computers.  It represents going against conformity.  It's a David vs. Goliath story really.  You have the new relatively unknown Apple Mackintosh going up against the computer giants and it succeeded tremendously.  

So the film is about celebrating the creativity of people like Hal Riney or Dan Wieden, but there are several underlying themes.  Themes such as thinking differently and destroying that fear of failure.  The film truly is quite inspirational and presents a very positive view of the advertising industry.