This Is Not Art

Jesus! There's an elephant in the room!

Really? Where? Which gallery is it on at?

No, no, no. I said it's NOT art, you dunce. It's a metaphor. A metaphor for something really fucking obvious that no one ever seems to acknowledge.

Like what?

Like the fact that advertising is NOT art.

Eh?

I said: Advertising. Is. NOT. Art.

How dya mean?

I mean that even though advertising uses many of the same methods, skills, crafts, and even language as art... erm, it isn't actually art. Even if an ad behaves like a piece of art...

It's still not art. And even though making an ad can feel like making a piece of art...

Advertising is not art.

So for all those "creatives" who veraciously and vociferously complained to Scamp about his creative agency "heat chart" the other week, and who felt slighted or disappointed that their agency wasn't creatively "hot", don't worry.

That chart was the elephant in room. Because that chart showed us all, once and for all, that advertising is not about creativity. It is about competition.

Which is why advertising is not art.

Advertising is a sport.