YouTube: For ad agencies only?

Apparently. YouTube and the Art Director’s Club have partnered to feature what they’re calling the best of YouTube marketing in Show & Tell, where creatives from major shops critique the best work out there in the digital space. Supposedly. Everything’s subjective in advertising anyway, so who knows if they’re reaching with the premise.

It strikes me as more than a little elitist though when listening to the clip above talking about a separation between consumers and agencies. In essence: Only agencies are allowed to tell stories because clueless consumers are unable to. YouTube is okay though when agencies use it like an issue of CA for inspiration to use as the basis of a TV spot.

This attitude also undermines the whole democratic nature of YouTube and ignores how the platform has redefined just what is and isn’t creative anymore.

As for access to the platform that TV gave up on as expressed in this clip, that’s actually the problem from where I stand. There’s still a significant barrier in place when it comes to manipulating the nuts and bolts of the web for complex projects. TV doesn’t require the same level of constant changes to its platform that the web seems to, let alone the complex number of devs, Flash people, UX, etc.

No stories? If anything, the simplicity of YouTube lowers that barrier for anyone to use, resulting in more exploration of stories in their honest, raw state.

Look around man, look around. They’re being posted there every day.