anti-jade

Riding up the elevator to the 30th floor was a thrill in and of itself. Being given a two-hour long presentation by a “merry band of refugees from all facets of marketing” made SS+K one of my favorite visits of the trip. Something every advertising major I have talked to had at one point felt jaded by the industry we are entering. You can only put so much meaning into selling sugar water to the next generation. However, we learned from Alyssa and Elena, a creative team at SS+K that when you seek out “Caused Based Clients” the work becomes malleable in creating a message that transcends advertising and creates social meaning outside of selling a product. SS+K also spoke on the passion projects they pursue as a team. For example, they created an online bot aptly named BFF TRUMP that only used phrases that Trump has said to create conversation as well as act as a contentious catalyst to get users to vote. It is easy to forget about the reason why we all entered advertising when working long hours, attempting to add a sense of meaning into work, but agencies like SS+K bring meaning and passion back into the chaotic void of mass media.

-Key Higdon