Does advertising need a union?

This is what happens when you don’t blog for a day, you start thinking about things other than the latest Bud spot. Things that most industry pubs won’t touch because it bites the hand. Highjive and AdPulp mentioned it recently, and Toad has touched on the freelance issue too. I’ve thought about it a lot lately. Any freelancer or person on staff who’s gotten screwed one of several ways probably wishes they had some form of protection too.

Why is advertising the only ‘creative’ profession without a union? Ironic since most of the above and below the line costs you would use for major productions have them already, everything from directors, talent, animation, etc.

Everyone but advertising. I can see the arguements against it already:

Freelancers make a ton already! We get to work in cool studios doing award-winning stuff that may or may not be seen on TV or film! We have benefits and two weeks vacation! Agency perks like free sushi and beer on Friday afternoons! We get to wear iconic t-shirts, funky sneakers, jeans and listen to Beck! What’s so bad about that?

Well, yes, we get to come and go as we want–mostly–but freelancers also have the joy of not knowing where the next gig is going to come from, or for how long. They get to pay ALL their expenses out of an ever-reducing hourly rate, including medical, travel, higher on average social security and tax rates–and get to wait up to 30-60 days for that first check. Oh, and temp services that take a huge cut and then always seems to place you in less than ideal environments.

Agencies could care less though because they’re paying you that higher hourly rate so they don’t have to deal with all that crap. To them, it’s basically a no-strings attached, one-week stand. But it’s not just freelancers who get screwed.

Job security? A big fucking HA! Not for freelance, not for staff whatsoever. And try putting in less than 70 hours without the scorn of others. Two weeks vacation that actually gets broken apart into smaller chunks of time, because well, it would be better for the agency if people weren’t away for so long. A series of long weekends is now the norm for most creatives.

And what about those benefits, the ones that you now have to pay more of in terms of a copay ... because it would be better for the agency to not have to pay so much. Nice. And I’m sure your 401 will be safe, provided the agency doesn’t fold, leaving you with nothing.

You can also bet that all the talent you work with, especially on a spot for TV has more protection and a regulated workflow than you do. A grip or animator at Disney likely has more job security and benefits than any agency ACD.

Not to mention protection from the one thing you can call your own: intellectual property. You know, the ideas your senior AD or ACD didn’t think were “really working,” but somehow managed to make it into the internal presentation the next day?

How about fired for any reason the owner or mid-level office managing minions or AEs see fit. Which, is more often about politics and personal agendas than it is about issues of competency. I’m crazy, right? Riiiiight. With the growing number of account-driven agencies permeating the business, account execs and project managers have more say in terms of how projects run, and if as a creative, you’re perceived even slightly as not being a ‘team player,’ you’re the problem the agency needs to deal with.

Forget for a sec that you may raising creative issues that go to the heart of what agencies should be about. A few mid or senior level creatives will not compare to AOR status and a multi-million dollar account on the line.

Where’s your recourse?

You have none, and if you keep butting heads, well, you’re screwed in the current ‘right to work’ environment of most states. (For the student newbies out there, you can be fired for any reason they see fit to hide behind). And what’s at the heart of this? Yeah, it really is that stupid: some AE cared more about getting a layout that wasn’t ready to the client, just so they can say they met the deadline–and you’re the asshole for bringing it up.

And, does this shit happen at the bigger and better shops? Probably not. (There are worse things in life than getting to wear jeans and listening to Beck at work.) Even if (insert really cool agency here) was a sweatshop, most people would probably put up with half the problems just for the name on their resume. Messed up I know, but that’s the way it is.

In fairness, it’s also not an issue at very small shops with husband and wife designers, or maybe studios with 5 or 10 designers doing cool shit and everyone’s happy.

But a union wouldn’t be for the places where things are great. This is about the places where it isn’t. The places where they treat staff as just another expense to be let go 150 at a time. You can blame the loss of a client all you want, but it’s never just about that.

The senior marketing dudes who open a small shop, take advantage of the staff who always work late, and then rake it in while talking at seminars on the Ad Age circuit. Or the shops who’ve been around for a long time, bloated at the top with a staff that dreads going to work, but finding another gig may be hard. Especially when you’re intimidated by an attitude that says you should be thankful because of ‘the way things are out there right now.’

How many yachts can you water ski behind indeed.

I could go on with a list of gripes, but it’s not about that. It’s about how you can tell a lot about an agency by the way it treats its employees. I’m just raising issues that need to be addressed. Seeing as we’re in this new snake oil-based age of conversation, I’m just starting one is all.