Can something as commercial as advertising be considered art? It’s the perennial question that divides the advertising industry, and was addressed last night (5 October) at the Youngbloods Great Debate in Melbourne.
The debate, which raised $2,100 for the Lighthouse Foundation, was adjudicated by Clemenger BBDO Melbourne CEO Peter Biggs. Below are excerpts from two speakers. In the affirmative is Ken Taylor, head of Ken Taylor Illustration and Design. In the negative is Erin Gallagher, CHE creative director.
Can advertising be considered art? Give your answer in the poll below.
Affirmative: Ken Taylor.
So I would like to begin my argument that commercial advertising can be considered as art by looking back in time. If you look at all the major art movements of the last 500 years they are in a way how we gain a glimpse of society back then.
If you take the renaissance for example – we know that at that time there was an explosion of thought and science and a general embracing of the human spirit – that coupled with religion of course gave us an insight into what life might be like back then and it was of course depicted in art.
What was significant about that period in time was that it was the first time we saw a departure from purely religious art. Up until the advent of photography, artwork and historical writings give us a glimpse of what society was like during that period.
The artwork of the time documents what life was like, and that is a big reason why people love art.
Fast forward a few hundred years to the late 19th century and we see some of the first examples of how advertising appears in art and perhaps is accepted as art.
Take Touloose Lautrecs Impressionist posters for the Moulin rouge and countless other brands. Take Alphonse Muchas art nouvea posters for Moet Chandon. No one in this room is going to take the moral high ground and dismiss these pieces as having no artistic merit.
Ever since the industrial revolution the single largest artistic vision into our past has been through advertising. Whether that is posters advertising world fairs from the 1920’s, or propaganda posters from the second world war and the Vietnam war, or concert posters advertising psychedelic bands from the 60’s and 70’s. They all feature great art. And people love them.
I am not sure how many people here know what I do. But a lot of it is me creating an image based on the music of a band for that band to sell as A) A piece of merchandise for the people who came to the show to take home with them or B) a piece of art that is used to advertise the show. Both appear as a poster featuring the band name, an illustration and information on the show.
These are collected by people all around the world much in the same way people who are into graphic design collect vintage Italian campari alcohol advertisements and hang them in their house to adorn their walls.
At the end of the day people collect these because they do consider them art. They love the fact that these are a snapshot of what life was like back then or as a visual reminder of a period of time in their own life – much the same way people collect religious artefacts and other forms of iconography. Because they are a cool little snapshot in Byzantine life.
In 50 years time I am sure there will be a market for people that are really into collecting Smirnoff posters from the last 20 years until present day. That’s because they are clever, well executed and feature great looking “ART” and at the end of the day art is so subjective and in the eye of the beholder anyway so who is to say what is or isn’t art…
Negative: Erin Gallagher
You can romance advertising all you want – advertising is not art. Here are three reasons why.
1) Advertising is a business. And a good one. It’s built lots of successful careers – Bernach, Ogilvy, Droga. It’s not just about money – the opposition would say art makes money too. The key difference is the purpose of advertising is to solve a business problem. Whether it’s to build a database, spread word of mouth on Twitter, increase likes on Facebook, or get votes for the government.
We’re not artists pioneering on our own – we’re part of a bigger business machine. That means we need to do timesheets, JCRs and comply with regulatory bodies like CAD.
If we were artists – we’d never make the logo bigger and we’d work only at night smoking dubbies like Brett Whitely..
We actually refer to our creative product as “The Work”. In fact, one particular agency (Mr Adjudicator) refers to as “The Work. The Work. The Work.”
2) Creative without sales strategy is called ‘art’.Creative with a sales strategy is called ‘advertising’.
Advertising tries so hard to get in the mind of our target market. Insights, market segmentation, personas.
Does this sound familiar? Julie is a 38 year old mum of two living in Glen Waverley. Classified as “a nervous Nelly” she seeks confidence in her investments and plans her finances methodically.
Art doesn’t care about getting in the audiences’ mind. In contrast – it is a pure expression of the artists’ mind.
Art doesn’t come with: mandatory’s on a brief; trying to explain features and benefits of a product; or measure its effectiveness by “likes” on Facebook.
This brings me to my next point. Advertising is all about liking it.
Successful campaigns are the most popular, the most universally appealing. We put our campaigns into research to find out which one has the greatest appeal. Can you imagine what a research group would say about Damien Hirst’s cows?
Advertising aims to appeal to the masses; the primary target and then spill over.
Art doesn’t mind if it offends – take the Vagina wall at Mona. Imagine presenting that idea to Libra.
3) Advertising isn’t art because the objectives are totally different. Think about it – art throws a spanner in the works, tries to provoke thought and inspire debate. Art is open for interpretation - you can read anything into it.
Advertising tries to convey a single message to a particular target audience. ‘Westpac impulse saver makes it easy to save’ and ‘Old Spice makes Isaiah Mustafa sexy’ are perfect examples. Good advertising is clear and immediate – there’s nothing to read into.
Art makes you feel something. Advertising makes you want to buy something. Artists sign their work…a lot of ads we need to do, you wouldn’t want to put your name to.
Advertising and art are actually polar opposites.
In summary… advertising is a business based on strategy. And with any business there is competition.
Artists don’t compete with each other. They don’t pitch to steal each other’s work. And critics put their name on their comments.If that didn’t convince you think about this…our work won’t go up in value when we die. It will be used to line bird cages.
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