Guilt is on the menu
We all feel guilt. Most would agree that you feel it everyday – even if it’s just a smidge. I wrote this article without reading any academic articles whatsoever, then felt guilty, so have added this part in:
“Guilt, according to evolutionary psychology, was the brain’s way of making sure we didn’t veer into behaviour that would leave us ostracised from the tribe.”
That has literally nothing to do with what you're about to read, but I left it in, because I don't want to be ostracised.
We feel guilty when we order Uber Eats. We feel it when we put our dinner Uber Eats bag into our lunch Uber Eats bag. We feel it when you’re eating said Uber Eats and an Uber Eats ad comes on the telly. Guilt when you know who made the ad and wonder why you haven't made anything half as good. Guilt when it reminds you you’re a slave to the machine of consumerism. Guilt, guilt, guilt.
It’s easy to spiral – especially when you’re chowing down on some chicken chow mein from your local. That’s because we don’t have an off switch in our ad brains. We’re always on. It doesn't matter if you just presented a pitch that's consumed your life for however-many weeks, it's still not enough.
There’s a constant sense of guilt that comes with our job.
But I like to see that sense of guilt as passion. People in our industry have passion for good work. We care. And we may make flyers for FMCGs, banners for cars and sell things we don’t always believe in, but we care about the end product. The creative. The output. What we put our names against.
What I’m getting at is that guilt comes from a good place. Guilt’s not always a bad thing (unless you’ve OD’d on the colonel’s secret herbs and spices). It reminds you that you still give a shit. And it’s good to give a shit.
Brain dump over. *DING DONG*, dinner’s here.
