The recent Burger King spots poking fun at AI’s creative prowess got lots of press (and accolades). But underlying the cheeky spots was a stark reality. Human copywriters’ days may be numbered.
In his most recent article in Communication Arts, veteran creative director Ernie Schenck decries a creative future driven by technology. Schenck paints a doomsday scenario in which he seeks out the last copywriter holdout, Martha, who’s living in a small town in Minnesota. A veteran of BBDO, she’s still honing her craft—writing clever ads for her church congregation.
Schenck ends the article with a warning: Whether or not she (Martha) turns out to be the shadow of what might be is up to us. Let’s not demonize technology. But let’s not lionize it either.
With so much focus on digital data in the advertising business right now, it’s easy to understand Schenck’s concern. I keep asking myself similar questions. Will creativity be lost in the new reality—when big data promises certainty about what customers want, where and when they want it?
A Digiday article with the ominous title “Code Eats Copy for Breakfast: Human Copywriters Are Doomed” seems to think so. The author, Mark Duffy, writes:
The technological race for human (consumer) attention won’t be won by human copywriters. This “People Based Marketing” everybody’s crowing about will very soon be executed best by nonhuman copywriters. Every day, brands and marketers are demanding more and more speed and more and more ideas from their “creative” agencies. And creative agencies are gape-mouthed clueless on how to meet these demands. There is much money to be made closing this gap. And you can bet ethicless Silicon Valley will close it. Quick.
Somehow I refuse to be this cynical. I want to believe that human creativity will continue to survive and thrive in the advertising business. Then again, maybe I suffer from a case of wishful thinking.
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