I recently revisited the question of what makes me want to get out of bed in the morning and go to work. The answer for me these days is simple – Social Media, simply because I see it as the new communication icon for truth, trust and transparency. Most of us know that truth sells better than anything else, but unfortunately that’s not what the ad biz has always been known for. I always hoped that, if I stayed in it long enough, truth would win out. And it has.

How well do you think this Winston cigarette commercial using Fred Flinstone and Barney Rubble would go over today?

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Yup. It ran. And no one balked (or at least they couldn’t be heard balking). Today’s equivalent of a concept like this wouldn’t even make it past the first focus group. But if it did, and it went all the way to TV or YouTube, the response might just be strong enough to put Winston cigarettes out of business. Ask Domino’s Pizza or United Airlines if they think it’s possible.

So, to those in the advertising industry still wishing the Mad Men days would come back, your time is up. Truth won out after all. And that’s job security for agencies like mine. Take that in your pipe and smoke it.