This evening at 11:55 I found myself still in the laundry room, getting
more and more frustrated with the quarter operated dryers. They seemed
to suck quarters and never actually dry anything. Another had
been waiting twice as long as I, had re-switched his clothes to the
dryer I had just been using (cause it actually worked) and had to run
back to his apartment for the third time to try and scramble up more
quarters. Having two extra quarters in my pocket as I left I simple
added them to his dryer and left, hoping then when he returned he would
be surprised to find his clothes already dry.
Now I post this story not to boast or to make you think better of me, I
just want to try and describe the feeling I felt the rest of the night
as I kept remembering how I made a small difference in someone else's
day. Fifty cents was really nothing to me, but that was perhaps 30 minutes of sleep, a resolution to his frustration, dry clothes, and a
hopefully a smile across his face for him. Serving others and making a
difference always feels so marvelous.
Now here's the connection. In the field of advertising and even in the
competitive business world, life seems to be so cluttered with bright
colors, bold font, jingles, and slogans that just add to the clutter of
life. From an ethical point of view I don't really know if I wanted to
really have a career that resolves around such ideas. I wanted rather to
have a profession that I could say "I've contributed to society," not
brought it down.
In class we have been learned about public service ads and how they do
make a difference and can drastically change statistics by warning,
preventing, and encouraging the communities we live in, for good.
Well in this laundry room I had a bit of a realization that even
through advertising I can continue to have that feel good feeling of
helping others, or even by just impacting one. Advertising is not just
the negative stuff, it can be the commercial on television about brain
cancer awareness, it can be an preview at a movie about illegal
downloading, or even a poster to influence people to volunteer at the
next community function.
In advertising I can still make a difference.
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Posted By Clarissa to Clarissa (explains it all) at 9/22/2010 07:44:00 AM
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