Idol worship.

Recently, I acquired from a fellow writer a copy of "The Art of Writing Advertising: Conversations with Masters of the Craft." It's an old book originally published in 1965 by the now defunct (or so we should assume) National Textbook Company. It features a forward penned by ol' Bill Bernbach and transcripts of interviews with some of the days towering figures of advertising--Leo Burnett (a surly prick), George Gribbin (arrogant, but not a prick), David Ogilvy (a pretentious dick head and a prick), and, king asshole of them all, Rosser Reeves (I can't even begin to describe his gruff, irritating demeanor). We catch up with these bastards in the twilight of their careers. For a hundred or so pages they proceed to mock, ridicule, and basically make every attempt to discredit the interviewer with evasiveness and hostility (you can almost see them reeling back in their chairs in disgust when asked if they still write copy). These guys act like they're goddamn F. Scott Fitzgerald. Suffice to say, I don't know any more about advertising than I did before I read the book, other than in 1965 the collective belief was that only certain people--people with inordinate amounts of talent and curiosity (seriously, this is the type of shit they say)--will ever succeed at writing brilliant ad copy, blah, blah, blah. What these guys all seem to have in common (aside from being pricks) is a seemingly out-of-place appreciation for the writers who came before them. Each of them cite a number of idols who either inspired them to get into the ad game or served as models of emulation once they had arrived. Aside from a few people I've worked with or have had as instructors in ad school, I couldn't name two writers to save my life, much less two that have had any significant impact on my career or the way I write. Which makes me wonder, do agencies outshine the individuals who work for them or are there simply fewer great writers out there to know? These days we're always saying things like, "Did you see those long copy ads for ESPN Sunday Night Football from W + K?" They were all copy. Wieden didn't write them and neither did Kennedy. So who did? Beats me. But they were great ads, and if I knew the writer's name I might cite him someday if someone ever asks me about my idols.