Apart from loving documentaries, I love trashy television.

I’m not talking about my beloved Jerry Springer … I’m talking about a whole host of shows including ‘reality television’, especially the ones where we get to watch human ego have a car crash.

Anyway, one of the things that always bring a smile to my face is when I get to watch a [no] talent show.

On they come … these talentless fools, full of the bravado that can only comes from years of praise from over-eager, gold digging, deaf, dumb and/or blind parents … only for them to leave 13 seconds later, knocked off their self-imposed perch into the sea of anonymity.

To be honest I feel for some of them – especially the ones who you can tell actually love what they are attempting to do rather than the bastards who simply want a short-cut to fame and semi-fortune … however that aside, the bit I love most is the moment just after the initial negative feedback.

Whereas many of us would sit back and listen to the criticism/advice of people who we accept have more knowledge of the industry than us, many of these talent tv fools simply launch into another car crash routine oblivious to the fact that it’s making the situation ten times worse rather than better.

As the title of this post suggests … I blame Billy Elliott.

You see in the movie [I’m not talking about the horrendous musical that Elton John singlehandedly destroyed with his Mardi-Grasesque soundtrack] he was having his interview with the Royal Ballet or something and preceded to fuck it up.

He was just about to be kicked back ‘oop North’ when – if memory serves me – he made some innocuous comment that somehow turned a bunch of sceptical judges into fawning groupies.

In other words, he snatched victory from the jaws of defeat … and because Americans [and the sort of Brits who think Jeremy Clarkson should be Prime Minister] think Hollywood makes documentaries rather than fantasies, they think this is an ‘insight’ into how to always guarantee a positive result so without fail, they adopt the practice, regardless of the history of broken hearts pumped into millions of households around the World each and every night.

Tossers.

Anyway this is just a preamble for the real purpose of the post – which is my chance to show a clip of quite possibly the worst musical duo since Pepsi & Shirley [look them up] though to be fair, as a comedy act they’d be up there with Laurel & Hardy .. especially the yellow shirt wearing Welsh tool who thinks he’s some rapping/beatboxing genius when in reality he’s just a rhythmless idiot with a crap accent.

Enjoy … and be glad these people exist because otherwise we wouldn’t be able to deny our own shortcomings as easily.

Actually let’s be more specific …

The older I get, the more I feel disconnected to the planning industry.

Before I begin, I need you to watch this …

That clip is the first part in a series the great guys at PSFK have pulled together and whilst there are a whole heap of very clever guys on it – all making interesting comment – I can’t help but feel Piers words right at the very beginning, are the most accurate and appropriate.

“I don’t know what planning is or really does”

He’s so bloody right.

A while back I made a comment on some blog about why I thought Daddy NP was a brilliant planner and in short, it was because he was working outside of London in an agency that didn’t have the most glam of clients.

My main point was that all the odds were against him, but with tenacity, passion, intelligence and sheer bloody action, he made them not only value it, but care.

Now here’s the thing … whilst I am in awe at many of the planners out there, I can’t help but feel there’s too many who are basically just lazy.

They don’t leave their desk … they don’t ever try stuff … they don’t explore or interact with the real side of life … they just sit there, talking about the latest theory they read in someone’s book/ blog/magazine then either complain that they are not getting the acclaim they feel they deserve and/or bitch about how the creatives are not doing what they were told.

A while back, as part of a project I/we were doing, I asked people to answer some questions about their personal employment situation.

We did this mini-survey across a multitude of industries and yet the answers were the same.

Regardless of whether people liked or disliked their bosses, in the main, they didn’t want their bosses job as it currently stood –because they felt it involved things they didn’t want to do.

Hahahahaha!

What a bunch of entitled little Prince and Princesses we have in the World.

Of course everyone wants glory but there’s way too many out there who want to achieve it with minimum effort.

The irony of this attitude is that I truly believe you cannot truly feel achievement if you haven’t gone through some pain to get it … so in my theory, it means we have a generation of planners who will either never achieve the acclaim they seek and/or believe they are justified to have … or they will get, it but never truly appreciate it because they’ve just had it easy.

Fuck me, I’m ranting like a 90 year old aren’t I!

One of the best things about living/working in Asia is that there is no real ‘planning culture’.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s some truly great planners out here, but because the Asian business dynamic is ‘do’ rather than ’say’ – we have to, like NP – prove our worth on a daily basis as opposed to just getting together and ‘naval gazing’ and/or ‘back slapping’ like so many in Western markets do.

Of course not every planner in the West is like this … just like not every planner or client in Asia is how I’ve described either … however as much as I pray at the feet of the wonderful and clever Gareth, I have to say I don’t quite agree with his comment that clients don’t know how to use planners correctly because ultimately we – as a discipline and an industry – have allowed this to happen and unless we take action so they – and people like Piers – see/hear/feel what we do [and as a byproduct LEARN how to get the best out of us], then it’s going to get a whole lot worse before it gets worse.

The next assignment will be in a few months. It’s supposed to be NP’s turn, but with his new role as Chief Daddy, I’m not sure – but one way or the other, they’ll be another one soon and I’ll make sure I mention it at the time, not 500 years later.

OK … that’s a bit of a harsh word … but I couldn’t walk down a corridor without bumping into someone who had – or was continuing to have – an interesting and varied life.

Some of these people had spent decades travelling … some had a nice sideline in building weird & wonderful furniture … some were ex-pig feed salesmen … some were reformed lawyers/bankers/herbalists and you know what, together they made amazing things happen because they had interesting, varied and yet informed opinions & ideas on a whole host of things – not just things linked to advertising or people’s lives as described and defined by cliche ‘marketing babble’ or misguided, misconstrued research ‘findings’.

Now I am in no way saying there are not great things happening in adland today … nor am I suggesting that it is an industry devoid of ‘characters’ and intelligence … however in a World where adland feels only ‘graduates’ are worthy of having a job in this industry, it doesn’t seem that much of a coincidence that we have become more passive, pale and bland than we ever were.

We now praise footballers for going into a tackle.

Praise actors for taking on certain roles.

Praise fashion designers for their new lines.

Praise Governments for taking action over issues they got us into in the first place.

Praise people who leave their jobs without a job to go to.

Praise brands for acknowledging their weaknesses.

Brave?

That’s not brave, that’s ridiculous.

There is much to be happy and excited about the World we live in, but without doubt, there are many things that we should be deeply embarrassed about.

Thinking about the weekend represents major forward planning, ‘hopes’ translates into what we want … not what our World needs and our culture puts more value on material standards than moral.

Where did it all go wrong?

Today in the UK, it’s Remembrance Day … where the actions of truly brave generations don’t get washed away under a sea of materialism, ego and topical debate … and whilst most would think it is a reminder against the perils of war, I like to think of it as a reminder about the power of unity so while it is all well and good to look at the future as a time for the fresh and the new, I believe real staying power happens when you marry that to the values and learning’s of the past.