Dispatch from an advertising future #142

https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/utmost-support-future-talent-during-pandemic/1699162

The networks were rough. Gangs patrolled the feeds, claiming territory, defending their corners. Things got nasty very quickly. Resources were scarce. Opportunities few and far between. Everyone knew someone who had been caught up in something. A skirmish or a full on battle. Since The Collapse, the feeds were no place for the timid or the doubtful. Max had seen his friends fall. He’d been out on the feeds for a while now. He’d had to take some jobs he wasn;’t proud of, do some things but he was still there. He’d survived. He didn’t know for how long.

Dispatch from an advertising future #141

https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/7/21553998/netflix-linear-channel-france-streaming-cable-tv

He didn’t get headaches any more. He slept better. The doctor said the wearable was posting data “in the right zone”. He felt better, calmer. They reminded him of the glasses he’d worn as a kid to help with his dyslexia. Tinted a cool John Lennon colour, they’d helped stop the words buzzing. These weren’t tinted but they had a similar effect, dulling the buzz, the movement, the confusion. He looked along the shelves and marvelled at the linear display of identical packages. Now if only he could get rid of the annoying “Brought to you this week by…” logo.

Dispatch from an advertising future #140

https://www.adweek.com/creativity/ai-logo-generator-creates-random-branding-designs-small-businesses/

Dear Colleagues, As you know we are in exciting times as we transition the agency towards a more efficient, but still creative business. Our AI supplier has assured me that their “creative intelligence system” will be able to handle any task we can throw at it. Certainly the design work we have seen since we sent them work to train the systems on, has been more than acceptable. The supplier did want to reassure us that the note someone found on a recent piece of artwork, claiming to come from a student on a zero-hours contract, was a system malfunction.

Dispatch from an advertising future #140

https://www.ft.com/content/d6a51bc0-e26f-4ed2-a298-7a97811dc427

No-one notices me. Why would they? I rummage through rubbish, picking through the detritus and leftovers for scraps. I’m the sort of figure you’d crossover to avoid. Pitiable. Sad. Maybe a bit disgusting. There’s a long history of characters like me: mudlarks searching the Thames; tabloid hacks rooting through celebrities’ bins. Treasure hunters. There is so much out there to explore, to root through, to discover. The overlooked, the lost, the forgotten, the unconnected. I’ll be there, finding data you’ve left behind and they haven’t picked up. I like to think I rescue orphans and then set them to work.

Dispatch from an advertising future #138

https://www.engadget.com/motor-vehicle-data-question-1-081059455.html

He just seems to spend all his time in his room, tinkering. He’s never happy with it. Always wants to change this, upgrade that. Ever since “right to repair” came in, he’s been tinkering. I thought it was about mending things but it’s not broken. It still works. He says: “but it can work better” and so he goes back to fiddle some more. Sometimes I wish for the days when things were locked down. At least I’d see him. His data self may be getting more “perfect” by the day, but I want to talk to the real him.

Dispatch from an advertising future #137

https://gizmodo.com/disney-made-a-skinless-robot-that-can-realistically-sta-1845522375

We’ve been partners since we started in the business. It was just after Reset and agencies were hiring cheap and investing in Artificial Creativity. Give us a shared screen and we’ll bounce ideas with the best of them. We even work together whenever we’re allowed out. Me talking to my wrist, her arguing in my ear. It doesn’t matter where she is, we’re a team. But I did miss having her in the room with me, seeing that famous massive intelligence working. We tried synthetic video but there was something missing. Don’t give me that look! You know I’m right!