Caught the sneak preview for The Pitch, the new AMC series featuring real advertising agencies—McKinney and Wong, Doody, Crandall, Wiener—competing for AOR status. The first prize: an opportunity to hawk breakfast items for Subway to a youth audience.
Couldn’t help but notice all the pathetic sides of the industry on display. Not sure what the appeal is here either, as reality TV shows like The Apprentice have already depicted people concocting campaigns.
Besides Tracy Wong and one Asian-American staffer, the agencies appeared to be predominately White. Old too. In fact, both shops made a point to assign “younger” creatives to work on the shootout. The Old White Guys, however, ultimately forced themselves into the process.
The McKinney team found a viral video featuring a White rapper and actually pursued it as a big idea. Watching the mesmerized McKinney staffers listening to the rapper’s lyrics was nothing short of pathetic. The agency even brought the sell-out rapper to the final presentation.
The McKinney group creative director spent some time bemoaning the challenges of being a woman and mom while serving as a senior-level advertising executive. Boo-hoo, old White lady, boo-hoo. McKinney CCO Jonathan Cude, incidentally, is a mediocre presenter. From a creative standpoint, the agency deserved to lose.
Oddly enough, the lame McKinney concept won—proving once again that White adpeople love hip hop.
