George Orwell

"Advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket."

Ah George how right you were. Although I mostly do genuinely like my job sometimes you can't help but wonder if working in advertising makes you somewhat responsible for commercialism, consumerism and the general state of the modern world. As a teen I was very disillusioned with the world and held ideals of shared wealth and communal living close to my heart. Upon growing up (a bit) it became clear that communism just doesn't seem to work (won't point at China too much but...). Whilst there's something appealing about living in a hippy commune outside the realms of society quite frankly I can barely handle camping at a festival anymore.

So now I work in advertising helping brands to sell people products that they probably don't need or really want. Whilst the hours are long and the pay measly there are some pretty addictive perks. Parties, gifts, free lunches, travel and shoot loot to name a few. (Shoot loot is all the stuff that gets bought for a shoot which you can then keep when the job is over - I've had food, clothes, shoes, jewellery, make up and a TV before.) Then there's the recession which has given me what I shall refer to as 'the fear' of leaving my job.

So anyway, here's my first entry into the blogosphere and I guess some kind of welcome into my rather conflicted world. Watch as materialism ebbs away at my morals and I sink further into the depths of advertising. Luckily there are a fair few people in the industry who know it's all bullshit - here's hoping I can continue to be one of them.