Kind of a gutsy blog headline for someone whose entire career has been spent in advertising, eh? But in the new online world of transparency and full disclosure I cannot tell a lie. I don’t believe in it, I don’t necessarily like it, and I can’t wait for the term to be found only in Webster’s word history archives.

So now that I’ve destroyed my own career, what next? Ahhh, that’s the wonderful news. Being ahead of the curve in where the ad industry has been going is the greatest career opportunity of my life. And my agency’s. And our clients.

Time Person of the Year, 2006

I remember the impact Time Magazine’s 2006 “Person of the Year” cover had on me. I’ve always waited with baited breath to see who Time calls the year’s most powerful and influential individual in the world. The stunningly obvious reality of this 2006 cover was multiplied ten-fold by the mirror-like mylar coating on the computer screen. Why, it was me! But I had only earned this title because of my new best friend, the internet.

I got it. And I also got what it meant for the world of advertising. Its death race was being accelerated. Because advertising’s life-line is tied to controlling the message, and with the consumer clearly in charge, that control is gone. Amen I say. Rest in peace. Now let’s get on with giving consumers what they really want – truth, trust and information.