Monday, May 28, 2012

10142: The Pitch Is Still Striking Out.

Despite a momentary interest in catching how Muse Communications fared in the competition, MultiCultClassics will continue reviewing AMC series The Pitch without actually watching the show.

After all, what’s the point? Seeing local, lower-tier advertising agencies duke it out for potential contract assignments—under ridiculous timelines—is the entertainment equivalent of, well, examining the real campaigns produced by these mediocre shops.

According to the press releases, Omaha-based Bozell bested Culver City-based Muse Communications for a job with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Whoop-dee-damn-doo. There will doubtless be critics ripping the minority agency, secretly thinking the outcome proves non-White agencies and executives are inferior to the Old White Guys. Don’t buy the bullshit. The only thing proven in this scenario is that a minority shop is just as capable of generating bad ideas as a White shop. No revelation there. If anyone needs verification that White agencies churn out lousy work too, simply observe the commercials running during daytime TV. Or even primetime, for that matter.

This week’s creative confrontation highlighted the offensiveness of The Pitch’s core premise. That is, doesn’t the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation deserve better than the half-assed and quickly conceived efforts of so-so agencies? Hell, Don Draper and crew staged a more compelling presentation for Jaguar—and the talent at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce has always been suspect. Maybe Jo Muse should have offered to sleep with the client à la Joan Holloway.

No word yet on the impact of airing the White Space spot. The YouTube counter indicates over 4,000 views for the video, which is probably more eyeballs than The Pitch regularly attracts. It’s tough to mount a revolution when dealing with low audience ratings.

1 comment:

Dan Goldgeier said...

I know you said you don't watch it, HighJive, but the first 10 minutes of the Muse/Bozell show might interest you.

The editors (and I really think the editors of the show ridiculously manipulate this show) decided to portray this as a city/minority vs rural/white contest. Which resulted in Jo Muse saying that the client (based in NYC) had already established a connection with the Bozell team during the briefing meeting, (which both agencies simultaneously attend), making it harder for his agency.

If you can bear to watch it, you might find it intriguing, since it hits on some discussion points you've raised on this blog over the years.