The other day I was getting coffee with one of the amazing women from Flock and I took the opportunity to delve into a topic that has often been on my mind during the past few years as I’ve waded deeper into the advertising program. In our beautiful little pocket of the ad industry in Allen Hall, it’s easy to get swept up in the sparkling ideas of brand responsibility, authenticity, courageousness, commitment to social good, etc. Our program is so unique in how we focus on these concepts and all of them resonate deeply with me; they are a huge part of the reason why I feel so passionate about this career path and what we all do. I want to make brands better and work for agencies that do good, innovative, responsible work. But I’m often reminded of the negative aspects of advertising, i.e. the vast majority of it that somehow feels both empty and filled with ulterior motives.

I asked Amelea how she balanced wanting to make brands more responsible with the reality of sometimes having to work with companies that don’t care about that and how to keep being inspired when your work might not feel as fulfilling as you want. She agreed that it’s hard and can be tough to navigate, but said something that has definitely stuck with me for the last few days: sometime’s it’s not about working with brands that already are responsible, but trying your best to subtly push them in a better direction. That makes a lot of sense, right? Everything has room for improvement and there have to be people willing to put in the effort to help others improve.

I was reminded of this idea this morning at BBDO when Lily and Patrick were discussing their respective work with GE and Bacardi. Those are two brands that wouldn’t immediately pop into my head if someone asked me to name a company I see as responsible and charitable. But learning about how these two UO alums got to help GE expand their efforts of getting more women into STEM and assist Bacardi in giving Caribbean musicians the chance to bring their dreams to fruition reminded me that we are here to help guide brands in the right direction. If they were already perfectly authentic and generous, or always precisely culturally sensitive and aware, our jobs would be in jeopardy.

It was a good reminder that sometimes you might momentarily lose sight of why you’re doing this, but that doesn’t mean it’s gone. It just takes a creative, generous peer to help you find it again.

Adriane Hershey / 5.10.18