Douchebags: A Case Study of Integrity in Advertising

Roger: What do I do all day, what do I do all day? Umm… I sit here and think of ways to make people feel bad.

Nick: Oh, I thought you wrote for commercials.

Roger: I do… But you can’t sell a product without first making people feel bad.

Nick: Well why not?

Roger: Because it’s a substitution game.  You have to remind them that they’re missing something from their lives.  Everyone’s missing something, right?

Nick: Well, yeah, I guess.

Roger: Trust me.  And when they’re feeling sufficiently incomplete, you convince them that your product is the only thing that can fill the void.  So, instead of taking steps to deal with their lives, instead of working to root out the real reason for their misery, they run out and buy a stupid looking pair of cargo pants.

Nick: So, umm, is it fun?

Roger: It can be.

- Roger Dodger (watch here at 3:47)

Roger Swanson, the eponymous antihero of the film Roger Dodger, explains his job as an advertising copywriter to his teenage nephew in this way.  Cynical, yes, but too often true — I occasionally wonder if this is how people outside the advertising industry typically perceive my own job when I mention what I do.

For this reason, I am always ecstatic when I come across an advertising campaign that adheres to a higher standard of integrity.  And I may have never in my life come across a more supreme example than this campaign for tourism to Las Vegas by Vegas.com.  This campaign should win some kind of award for honesty in advertising — even if I have to create that award myself.


At this point you probably have two questions for me: Is it really a good idea to be using the word “douchebag” on a professional blog? And what does this poster have to do with integrity in advertising?

The answer to the first question is, well, you don’t have to, but this is my blog and not yours.  And the answer to the second question is, of course, everything.

The brave, bold individuals behind this campaign (dare I call them mavericks?) know what the Las Vegas brand means to a certain segment of the population, and they’re taking those douchebags head on.  They’ve built an amazing landing page and an even more amazing MySpace page.  I immediately Tweeted this story as soon as I came across it, and Vegas.com wrote a note back to me.  A couple of hours after my Tweet, they launched a new Twitter account to put a face to the message.

Clearly, these folks get it.  Look at all the buzz on Twitter surrounding this campaign.  And the great thing about douchebags is that they tend to know that they’re douchebags, pretty much guaranteeing this campaign’s success.

Are you in denial about what your brand really means to consumers? Well look yourself up over at Brand Tags, and then get to work. Maybe next year you can win the soon-to-be-created Jamie Scheu Integrity in Advertising Award. In the meantime, I’ll raise a Jagerbomb in a toast to Vegas.com, and to this wacky, wonderful industry of advertising.

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October 19, 2008 | Filed Under Advertising, Just For Fun 

Comments

2 Responses to “Douchebags: A Case Study of Integrity in Advertising”

  1. David Berkowitz on October 20th, 2008 9:41 am

    Great post.

    Actually, you could have ended the post with the Roger Dodger quotes… that alone would make for entertaining blogging, but the rest of the blogginess is great too.

  2. John Coulter on November 24th, 2008 11:49 am

    I’m one of the mavericks behind this campaign. Thanks for all the praise. Trust me, we were kind of amazed that this made it to print as well.

    This ad received a lot of buzz after is was featured on Copyranter.
    http://copyranter.blogspot.com/2008/02/vegas-promo-campaign-connects-with-non.html

    It was also in Copyranter’s list of “Stuff I’ve reluctantly liked in the last 3 years”
    http://copyranter.blogspot.com/2008/03/because-quality-of-your-recent-tips-has.html

    It was also deemed “Lowbrow Brilliant” on New York Magazine’s Approval Matrix.
    http://johncoulter.net/portfolio/images/print/matrix080310_740.jpg

    VH1′s Best Week Ever called it an “amazing new ad campaign.”
    http://www.bestweekever.tv/2008/02/25/ad-wizards-las-vegas-finally-acknowledges-its-own-reality/

    Adfreak said : “… props to the creatives who got this idea through to execution.”
    http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/2008/03/vegas-has-a-rea.html

    John Coulter
    Creative Director
    VEGAS.com

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