When I was at the Big Agency, we supported a client's products 100 percent. That meant that when we did PR for a beer brand, we didn''t dare go out and drink a competitor's brew. I still cling to old habits. With a retail client, I won't go to a competitor's store. I figure, hey, if they're paying me to do PR for them, the least I can do is show my loyalty.
That's why I''m baffled after following the buzz about adman Alex Bogusky and his exit from Crispin Porter + Bogusky to form his FEARLess Revolution, what he calls his consumer advocacy group. According to Fast Company, he "left the world's hottest agency to find his soul." It seems he had an epiphany some months ago, and has decided that the millions he's scored from selling pizza and burgers to America is, well, wrong. Eating fast food is really, really bad and he must tell us all about it. In fact, he wrote a book on the subject while still doing advertising work for his fast food clients.
Am I the only one who thinks this is a bit disingenuous? If you don't believe fully in a product, why would you do advertising or PR for the company? And if your clients are paying you for your work, is it right to say negative things about them while collecting a big fat check? Perhaps there's no loyalty these days. There should be.
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