What the Producer Said Catorce

One of my fondest memories from childhood is sitting in the bed with my mother and watching Andy Rooney on 60 Minutes.  This week, I would like to pay a little tribute in my own way. (This will be more fun for you if you read it thinking of his voice.)

I have this post-it on the lower right side of my laptop that has been sitting there for the last couple of weeks. It just says “Nice Guy.”  It’s a reminder to myself that I wanted to write about how it’s becoming more and more acceptable to be a nice guy in the advertising industry.

When I was a kid, all the successful businessmen in the movies (and most of them were men), all seemed to be mean.  Not the kind of mean where they’d call you names; the kind of mean where they kept the $8,000 dollars you need to save your bank; killed you and a bunch of other people during their kids christening; or bought all the stock in your dad’s company and then liquidated the company for profit.  That’s the kind of mean we all thought it took to be really rich.

When I started in the advertising business, there were mean people too. But they were a different kind of mean. Most of them weren’t rich. And maybe they were mad about that. So they were the kind of mean that yelled at their assistants; threw storyboards across the room; or sent you on a wild goose chase around Manhattan to find refrigerator magnets shaped liked little pizzas (If it’s still there the store is on 6^th Avenue and 57^th street). 

These days, with all this spiritual awakening; self help guru stuff and Dr. Oz cleaning out everyone’s colon…people just seem to be getting nicer.  Most bosses don’t yell. If an assistant starts crying everyone runs to their side.  And even people who get fired take the time to make a funny YouTube video thanking everyone at the company. Actually you can’t say fired anymore.  In the agency business getting fired means you went from being President of North America to CEO of Cleveland.

I, for one, don’t miss the mean people.  I hope we are truly getting to the point where “nice guys finish last” means they are the ones still standing. Because I know a lot of nice people in this business and they deserve to be successful. The last thing I want is for another generation to enter this industry thinking they need to be assholes to succeed.  Because I can tell you those days are over.

And incidentally, I’ve always thought of myself as a nice guy—even though I did once kill a bunch of people during a relative’s christening. Probably shouldn’t have brought my PSP to church that day.

Rest in peace Andy. We could have used a few more minutes.

And…fade to black.