I’m glad I don’t work in marketing, because then I’d have to strongly consider taking Bill Hicks’ advice.
By the way if anyone here is in advertising or marketing–—kill yourself. It’s just a little thought; I’m just trying to plant seeds. Maybe one day they’ll take root—I don’t know. You try, you do what you can.
(Kill yourself.)
I’m tempted to suggest that the author of this 2019 Capital & Growth post about how to reach people who have opted out of social media do so, though. Just look at this:
From various reports I’ve read there is a growing demographic of social media opt-outers, usually older (35+) and successful professionals with lots of cash to spend. Part of their identity seems to be, “I am not like the others, wasting time on social media. I am successful and get things done”. They are also less likely to click on display ads. We have a clothing line and other products we think would appeal to them. Any ideas how we can reach them?
I can’t speak for anybody else, but as a 35+ “professional” I don’t want to be reached, least of all by the likes of this asshole. I don’t want to hear about their clothing line or their other products. That’s one of the reasons I try to avoid using social media. It’s also the reason I not only avoid clicking display ads, but use tools like uBlock Origin and uMatrix to block ads and tracking. Hell, I won’t even read an article if it’s marked as “sponsored” or otherwise smells like content marketing.
If I wanted propaganda I’d buy a newspaper.
Nor do I try to avoid social media because I see myself as “successful and getting things done”. I avoid it because every social network degenerates into a virtual high school cafeteria, complete with cliques and bullying. I find this ironic, considering that many of the techies who build these platforms probably remember high school as the title track of a Slayer album: Seasons in the Abyss.
I get that this person is just trying to do their job, but I don’t feel obligated to care. I grew up exposed to more than enough advertising as a kid watching TV in the 1980s, fuck you very much. Furthermore, I regard the vast majority of people who work in advertising or marketing as con artists, which in fairness is an insult to the vast majority of con artists.
Seriously, though: if you work in adtech, advertising, or marketing: make sure you get your whole head in front of the shotgun. If you fuck it up, you’ll end up looking like Arseface.