The World According To

Having been in the business for many years and having attended many, many parties, I have noticed a couple of big differences between people in advertising and people outside of advertising.

(Most) People in advertising are funny. People out of advertising THINK they're funny. I recently discussed this phenomenon with a couple of office mates, one a copywriter, the other a planner. They knew EXACTLY what I was talking about.

My wife is not in the business, though she used to be. I'll often accompany her to one her friend's homes or parties and there is a huge difference between the sense of humor of the people I'll call "civilians".

Civilians will tell jokes that are horribly unfunny, but will laugh at them nonetheless. Not to sound too elitist, but these are the people that kept "Yes, Dear" on CBS for five seasons*. Then, when someone in the biz lets loose with some real funny, they get blank stares. Ad humor is too dark and twisted for their sensibilities. C'mon... what's a NAMBLA joke between friends? Doesn't everybody find bestiality funny?

Plus, civilians don't get it when ad people swear. We swear a lot. Fuck, shit, cock and much, much worse are in our daily vocabulary. Ad people swear when the copier runs out of paper... "FUCK!" Once, one of my wife's friends visited this blog and was shocked at the language.

Fucking civilians.

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*As an aside, I went to the IMDB and looked up the listing for "Yes, Dear". Here's the featured review:

"This show succeeds at what it attempts: mindless comedy. Perhaps if you are "educated" you consider yourself above the humour, but I enjoy watching it."

Even it's fans are apologetic for liking this crap. I can only hope that the spelling of "humour" is due to an English author and not the product of a poor education.

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The World According To The Web

READING
-The Marvel Bullpen, 1965
-Carved Crayons
-The Thing!
-Dr. Pepper... or is it?

LISTENING
-Clint Mansell-
The Fountain
-Badly Drawn Boy-
Born in the U.K.
-Beck-
The Information
- Sean Lennon - Friendly Fire

2007
1.07

2006
12.06
11.06
9.06
8.06
7.06
6.06
5.06
4.06
3.06
2.06
1.06

2005
12.05
11.05
10.05
9.05
8.05
7.05
6.05
5.05
4.05
3.05
2.05
1.05

2004
12.04
11.04
10.04
9.04
8.04
7.04
6.04
5.04
4.04
3.04
2.04
1.04

2003
12.03
11.03
10.03
9.03
8.03
7.03
6.03
4.03
3.03
2.03
1.03

2002
12.02
11.02
10.02
9.02
8.02
7.02

OLDER
Pulp Fiction
9-11-01

KEYWORDS: Ron Lim, Ron W. Lim, blog, art direction, advertising, photographs, illustration, Spider-man, Amazing Fantasy