Creative Director’s Choice: Michael Wachs of GYK Antler on the CJR’s fight against fake news
Creative Director’s Choice gives creative directors a chance to highlight the current work they think is the best out in the ad world – the ads and campaigns they believe are making a difference.
Columbia Journalism Review ads in the New York Times
This week, Michael Wachs, chief creative officer at GYK Antler, states why the print campaign by TBWA\Chiat\Day for the Columbia Journalism Review (which also ran in the New York Times) was so effective in countering the proliferation of fake news and unreliable sources.
Attack ads are easy. Everyone in advertising knows this. What you trade off in a temporary edge up on the competition, however, is typically a long-term hit on your brand. The lasting memory for most consumers is a stench of pettiness or a position of weakness, so it is no wonder why creatives or a brand would shy away from them.
But if done well, jumping into the mud and fighting back is a thing to behold.
Created with the utmost grace and sincerity, the recent print campaign from the Columbia Journalism Review conceived by TBWA\Chiat\Day elevates the conversation not with an assault on a direct competitor, but on the indirect competition of gossip, false information and dubious “truths.”
The campaign draws its power from discrediting those unnamed sources in defense of journalistic integrity, ethics and proper vetting. It comes off not as an attack. Instead, it holds a mirror up to society for reflection – and this is a good thing.
Let’s be clear: this approach wouldn’t work for most brands. We’re living through a moment in time when people are looking to tear institutions down based on subjectivity and hearsay. In order to resonate outside of loyal advocates, a campaign needs to be bullet-proof in its authenticity and aligned perfectly with a brand’s mission.
For me, advertising, marketing and design are at their greatest when they not only change a mindset, but do so in the interest of serving the greater good. Not only does this campaign deliver on that with a clear, thought-provoking indictment on the tools and propaganda we rely upon to shape opinion, but it offers the ability to reinvigorate a struggling channel, reestablish trust and credibility in a complacent audience, define CJR’s values and sharpen its brand.
Feels like a worthy fight.
Michael Wachs is the chief creative officer at Manchester, New Hampshire-based integrated marketing agency GYK Antler.
View the campaign by clicking on the Creative Works box below.
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