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Abstract:
Creativity is at the heart of the advertising industry and scholars have written extensively
on the subject for the last twenty years. But, in reviewing the literature, one word is never
word as simple as truth. In this essay, the concept of truth will be explored from the
perspective of the arts as well as advertising. This discourse will help illustrate how truth
“The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
Oscar Wilde (www.llywelyn.net/docs/quotes/wilde.html)
Scholars have found creativity to be among the most complex of human behaviors
both with academics and advertising agencies, these same complexities exist. As Reid,
King, and Delorme observed (1998), creativity is one of the least scientific aspects of
advertising and at the same time one of its most important criteria. The decision of what
“is good” and what “is not good” in marketing communication by agency and clients is
marketing investment), while for some advertising agencies “good” is winning creative
awards (e.g., Cannes, Clio, One Show, etc.). For these agencies, recognition from
industry award shows is the currency of their success. [In trying to address these
conflicting views, Donald Gunn (1994) found that award-winning ads from the Cannes
While clients and agencies may not agree on the meaning of “good,” there is still
advertisement goes to an awards judge, or for that matter a client, what makes the creator
or creators think the work is good? When examining the writings and thoughts of
prominent agency practitioners, one word emerges time and time again, a word as simple
as “truth.” Jon Nelson, Executive Creative Director at Carmichael Lynch, states, “All the
best ads are based on truth” (Anderson, 2005). Or, as Scott Donaton, an advertising
executive on returning from the Cannes International Advertising Festival noted, “The
best advertising reveals truth and insights, and not just about brands but—as with music,
art, fiction— [but] about life” (Donaton, 2002). For these “creatives” (art directors,
copywriters, and creative directors), a creative solution begins with a truth: either about a
marketing, there is no mention of truth and creativity. Advertising scholars have ignored
this connection. Therefore, this essay will explore literature from other fields where the
relationship between truth and creativity has undergone considerable discussion –the arts.
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By examining literature of 20th century art philosophers – including Collingwood,
Heidegger, Zuidervaart – this review will help establish the connection between truth and
Therefore by exploring truth, art and advertising, this essay will address the
following: 1) what is meant by truth in art; 2) how does truth in art relate to truth in
advertising; and 3) why agency practitioners feel truth, whether about a product, a
By beginning this discussion, scholars, students, and educators will hopefully gain a
better understanding of the advertising creative process. To help support this discourse,
The value of creativity to advertising can be demonstrated by the scale and scope
of scholarship over the last twenty years. In the many articles published, creativity has
been examined with regard to role-based models (Hirschman 1989), factors of originality
(El-Murad and West, 2004), divergence and relevance factors (Smith and Yang 2004), as
well as varying client and agency perspectives (Koslow, Sasser, and Riordan, 2002).
What has not been considered or addressed is the relationship between truth and
creativity. A search of the topic in the leading journals of the field, Journal of Advertising
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and the Journal of Advertising Research (Zinkhan and Leigh, 1999), shows that not one
different view, one that establishes a strong relationship between truth, creativity, and
communication that the organization lists it first among its governing ethics and
principles, “Advertising shall tell the truth, and shall reveal significant facts” (www.
aaf.org). The American Association of Advertising Agencies also confirms this belief by
stating, “We will not knowingly create advertising that contains: false or misleading
statements” (www.aaaa.org). Both these organizations know that truth is crucial to the
business of advertising. A brand success is built around messages that inform and
will be a negative bias in the consumer’s mind. Hugh Mackey in The Good Listener puts
the concept this way, “It’s not what our message does to the reader, but what the reader
does with the message” (Aitchison, 1999, p. 25). Does the audience accept the truth; does
it live up to their expectations; does it pass their common sense test; and, most
importantly, does the message overcome the wariness of a buyer towards a seller?
mistrust among consumers, suggested that false or untruthful advertising “turns us into a
community of cynics [who] doubt advertisers, the media, and authority in all its forms”
(p. 29). Unfortunately, between 1997 and 2001, the number of complaints about
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Art, Creativity, and Truth
It was the eminent advertising scholar White (1972), who first noted that many
artistic domains share a similar reality to advertising. He explained that creative people in
music, art, literature, and film have an aesthetic sense that allows them to recognize
problems and come up with creative solutions. Psychologists in studying creative people
describe this problem solving as a search for truth (Kay, 1996, p. 111).
A Western discussion about truth and art can be traced back to the early Greeks
and Romans. Plato denies the capacity of art to tell truth. Instead, as the philosopher
explains in The Republic, works of art, especially music and poetry, should be judged on
the basis of how they portray emotions. Creativity for Plato was meant for loftier
pursuits, e.g., poetry being inspired by the divine muse. As an example, he viewed
sculpture as the work of skilled craftsmen. The Latin definition of the verb “create”
supports this interpretation as to “inspire” and “breathe life into,” as a higher force
On the other hand, Aristotle takes a somewhat contradictory view from that of his
teacher about truth and art. He suggests Greek tragedy (what he refers to as “imitative
arts”) can provide true insights into the events and characters of the day (Dorter, 1990).
This interpretation can be construed as a non-conceptual view of truth, one that is based
on what “rings true” for an audience. R.G. Collingwood in The Principles of Art (1958)
calls this truth an “emotional representation” (p. 53); how feelings an artist evokes are
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In the mid-20th century, several European philosophers began to suggest that this
aesthetic was really a way of “knowing”; gaining an understanding of the world around
between artist and audience. The philosopher Martin Heidegger (in what he described as
knowledge. For our purposes, learning is “the accumulation of facts, data, opinions, or
proposition, while knowing requires creative integration that goes beyond the given data”
540). Based on this understanding, science can be seen as learning, while art is about
knowing. And in both, there is the quest for the truth: albeit the approach taken by the
two disciplines is quite different. John Dewey confirms this distinction by stating,
maintained that aesthetic truth has three characteristics: process, originality, and historical
disclosure. To illustrate this concept, consider Picasso’s Guernica (figure 1on the
following page).
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Courtesy Spanish National Museum of Modern Art
The depiction in the painting is not an exact representation of the attack by German
forces against the small Spanish town of Guernica in 1937. Rather, the painting, which
was painted by Picasso in Paris after reading accounts in the daily newspaper, is an
interpretation of the battle. For any observer, the painting is not a reality. Rather, the
painted abstraction conveys the violence and unrest through Picasso’s imagination. And,
for the audience, this interpretation is accepted as authentic. Heidegger would suggest
that the painting has validity for an observer based on the historical knowledge of the
tragedy, that the painting captures a violent truth from the last century.
Lambert Zuidervaart (2004) in his first volume on truth and art takes a slightly
different perspective from that of Heidegger. His theory builds upon the earlier work of
construct, the purpose of all art (high or low, popular or esoteric, mass or folk) is to
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giving disclosure” (2004, p. 77). He further postulates that truth in art is based on three
ethos, and pathos). For Zuidervaart, authenticity is how an artist and audience expect art
to arise from authentic situations; how the creator and audience believe the artistic work
work is authentic because the painting is true to the events that occurred in real life. For
the second condition of significance, does the public disclosure of the creative work have
significance within the broader social context; does the audience find it useful or worthy?
For Guernica, this is answered by the importance the painting has held over the last 75
years. And finally, for the stipulation of integrity, does the work serve a higher purpose;
does it reveal a greater meaning? In Guernica, this can be illustrated by Picasso’s use of
framework built around domain, field, and creator. When this model is applied to
advertising (Earle, 2007), the creator (art director and copywriter in advertising) is the
source of the innovation; the field (the client and agency gatekeepers) is made up of
experts or intermediaries who pass judgment on the innovation; and the domain (previous
advertising), which provides information and stimuli to the creator, is the place where the
authenticity is the personal experience of the creator, which in the case of advertising is
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derived from the educational background and professional experience of the creative
team (copywriters and art directors). For these creators, the advertisement is true as long
as it fits their interpretation of the world. And, for them, integrity is about novelty; does
the work go beyond the conventional; does it stand apart in the greater domain?
This concern with novelty is also found in the writings of many leading creativity
researchers (e.g., Amabile, 1983; Sternberg and Lubart, 1999; Sawyer, 2006). For these
scholars, creativity is “both novel and appropriate, useful, correct or valuable” only when
it is a response to a particular task (Amabile, 1983, p. 35). The art philosopher Hausman
also supports this concept of novelty (1984). He maintains, in what he calls “Novelty
Proper,” that new artwork must contribute to the traditions of the field; what
painting by a four-year-old can be seen as novel, unique, or unexpected. But, within the
domain of the art world, most intermediaries (gallery owners or museum curators) would
see no value in the painting. They would say the work is not appropriate (a view not
necessarily shared by the artist’s parents). However, what is true for both the young-
aspiring artist as well as any grand master, the process used in creating the work is
both, the solution is based on a simple objective. Does this work have meaning within a
Collingwood confirms this observation by saying the artist only succeeds when he or she
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For the arts of literature, music, and painting, a creator(s) tries to predetermine
how an audience will react. As an example, a novelist is concerned if a new book will be
well received by a publisher; a musician wonders about a CD; a painter wants to know if
people will show up at an exhibition; a copywriter and art director wonder whether an
audience will pay attention to their work amidst the clutter of commercials. For all these
creative people, will the intended target be engaged; will the audience find it relevant;
will it be meaningful; will the creative truth be seen as having import? All these questions
and integrity.
fundamental concern about how an intended audience will see their work. Will the
audience connect with it; will they find it relevant and worthwhile? Simply, will the
motive as “ex hypothesi” (1958, p. 301), or non-aesthetic. The philosopher John Dewey
reinforces this view by suggesting that the objective of any creator is to try and connect
with his audience based on a truth, one formed by the dynamic flow between self (the
creator) and environment (the audience). Dewey called this interaction the
proposes that the creative process is not based on the creator sitting down and
consciously constructing a truthful insight from a personal experience. Rather, the artist
adds or subtracts from a work based on his own aesthetic imagination, sensing an internal
expression from his past. Collingwood calls this moment the “aha” (Anderson and
Hausman, 1992). Here, the creator, be it poet, painter, or agency practitioner, intrinsically
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identifies a feeling or emotion as the solution; a process of trial and error that
Creativity in advertising, as in poetry and painting, is built on this same trial and
error, a search for meaningful and true perspectives on life (Meline 1996). However,
when you consider the creative work of advertising, there is a critical and distinct
difference. In the world of art, creativity is the end product. What is produced is simply a
and audience. In advertising, creativity must also serve another master. A creative
message must promote a product or service. Here, creativity must serve a business
interest too
As noted earlier, many advertising practitioners have noted how that truth is
fundamental. But a question remains: why is truth so essential? One factor might be the
yet only a few “fly under the radar,” as Jonathan Bond and Richard Kirshenbaum note in
Under the Radar: Talking to Today’s Cynical Consumer (1998). Amidst the clutter of
commercial messages, only a few actually break through and connect with the intended
target. In The Copy Book: How 32 of the Greatest Writers Write Their Advertising
(Abbott, Begins, Brignull, Cox, Durfee, Cooke, et al., 1995), Paul Silverman suggests, “A
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copywriter is like a lawyer building a case for clients by selecting truths” (p. 150); Jim
Durfee adds, “Every product has its own truth” (p. 46); and Steve Hayden points out,
“Make the truth as interesting as it can be” (p. 69). In another book on advertising, Kiss
and Sell (2004), Robert Sawyer advocates, “Writing and re-writing until the words tell
the truth” (p. 22). Mark Fenske an eminent instructor from the VCU BrandCenter
From these examples, as well as earlier quotes from McCann Erickson and Bill
Bernbach, truth can be seen as sort of an enable right for these art directors and
truth can also be seen in different lights: that truth can be about a product, a consumer, or
a way of life. This is how truth in advertising can be more fully explained.
When creative directors are asked about the value of audience research, one of the
few benefits they mention is the ability to find a truth about a product (Chang, 2006).
These creatives know they need something to base their message on, something to engage
their audience with. As the philosopher Dewey would suggest, they wanted a truth to
establish a connection between the creator, environment (the product), and the audience.
Luke Sullivan, an award-winning writer formerly with the Fallon and Martin Agencies,
suggests he is always “looking for a central truth and seeing how he could dramatize the
benefit” (Abbott, et. al., p. 82). It could be said Sullivan was looking to make the truth
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exciting, novel, and appropriate—a view that supports the theories of Heideggar and
In Brands and Branding, Clifton (2003) expands on this concept. “The brand
must be true to itself and keep the promises it makes” (p. 83). Much of the work from
Doyle Dane Bernbach during the 1960s exemplifies this approach, creative work that
while other auto print advertisements of the day were showing cars dashing down the
road, or sitting in driveways surrounded by happy admiring families, Doyle Dane showed
a Volkswagen against a stark white backdrop with a remarkably simple yet truthful
headline “Lemon.” The ad (figure 2 below) then went on to explain that the product “had
missed the boat” because it did not live up to quality standards of Volkswagen.
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If the basic purpose of advertising is to persuade and not just communicate, then
the end creating a relationship. This emotional appeal can be more important than a
rational or functional benefit. This truth goes to what Heidegger refers to as aesthetic
with feelings based on personal experiences. Ernie Schenck, a creative director at Hill
There are many instances of this approach in product categories such as fashion,
desire, delight, or aspiration. To illustrate this concept, consider this award-winning mall
display by Crispin Porter and Bogusky from Miami (figure 3 below). The work taps into
an experience from our childhood. The message is not to “buy the car because it is a
child’s toy.” Rather, the appeal is based on the creator knowing one of life’s celebrated
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The appeal in this display, or emotional representation, simply suggests that the Mini is
“child like fun,” or, as a One Show judge pointed out, “a perfectly contained little truism”
The Mini example also demonstrates what Heidegger and Zuidervaart call the
validation of truth, a process whereby the intended audience identifies an emotion, which
adds to the historical disclosure. As Zuidervaart would suggest, this work has the values
of authenticity (the childhood experience of the creator and the consumer) and
In another example for Preparation H (figure 4 below), the truth here is built on
the creators knowing what it feels like for the audience not to have the product, the
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The advertisement shows a bicycle seat that looks like a saw. The image is not true in the
rational or empirical sense. But, for the consumer, the image is true in an emotional
True to Life
In the current realm of advertising today, truth can also relate to a lifestyle
have any emotional traction, it has to be based on some fundamental human truth of life
(“Love In” 1995). Former creative director Tony Cox echoes this sentiment by saying
advertising should always refer to something beyond the product (Abbott, et al. 1995).
Or, as Mark Fenske in Advertising Today (Berger, 2004) speculates, good advertising
“reinterprets life.” A truth makes the message more “relevant and powerful” (p. 10).
Again, this is a perspective that supports Zuidervaart’s view of truth in art. Nick Cohen,
of Mad Dogs and Englishmen, considers this truth about life the essence of all great
advertising (Aitchison, 1999). Here, in this ad for Harley Davidson (figure 5 on the
following page), truth is demonstrated in linking the brand essence to the rider.
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Figure 5, Courtesy of Harley-Davidson USA
Finally, in this ambient work for Amnesty International (figure 6 below), the
drama and truth of “life” is drawn out before the viewer’s eyes on this sidewalk message.
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Implications for Future Research
Koslow, Sasser, and Riordan (2003) discuss in their research how there is a great
deal of frustration among scholars about creativity; how academics have tried to quantify
it, qualify it, or even ascribe a personality type to it. But, as with other arts, creativity in
advertising is in many ways still shrouded in mystery. Art directors and copywriters
know that when it comes to developing a creative message, it is not like the film Field of
Dreams: If you build (create) it, they (the audience) will come.
Today, it is difficult to get an audience’s attention, let alone have them remember
a message. While many clients worry about sales, many advertising creatives know that
in order to build a brand, you must have messages that stand out and break through the
clutter, ideas which are novel and appropriate. But another critical factor is finding an
important truth, one that is based on a product, a consumer, or a way of life. As the
how truth and advertising work together. To that end, further areas to consider include:
• Who knows what? Do clients consider “truth” in the same ways as agency
creatives?
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These questions are just a start. The idea of truth in advertising is one that will
take extensive examination and thought. And, as with philosophy, it is a pursuit that will
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