Art & Copy is a new documentary about the second oldest profession. Running parallel to Frank's book The Conquest of Cool, it focuses on the mad men and women of advertising between the late 1950s and the late 1990's. The film mixes classic campaigns with reminisces by the people who made them. A recurring message is the necessity to convince the client to fund something they think can never work, but ultimately results in deeply moving the viewer.
The film traces creative revolution of Doyle Dane Bernbach which introduced "anti advertising" in the 1950's. It was critical, self conscious, emotional and at the same time entertaining. Think Adbusters. The interviewees were inspired by that movement and went on to create iconic ads. Examples include the original Volkswagen Beetle, I Want My MTV, Where's the Beef?, the 1984 Macintosh launch, Just Do It, Nike women's sports, Got Milk?, Think Different, I Love NY and others. Recent trends in authenticity and emotion advanced by Kevin Roberts, Marc Gobe and Clotaire Rapaille are not new, they were understood intuitively by these creatives, and demonstrated in their work.
You can see the film at the Northwest Film Center and deconstruct the advertising ingredients of your own cultural history. It is also a call to push your own creative boundaries and trust your intuition. The film is at the Art Museum Whitsell Auditorium, www.nwfilm.org 1219 SW Park Friday, September 18, 7PM; Sunday, September 20, 4:30PM & 7. $6 members/$7
