Posted by Nothing like a little news item from The Onion to make you realize how far we’ve come as Marketers… and how far we still need to go.
The article is called, World’s Worst Person Decides To Go Into Marketing.
Here it is:
"World’s Worst Person Decides To Go Into Marketing
‘I’m Thinking…Marketing,’ Says Horrible, Horrible Man
NEW YORK – Twenty-three-year-old Louis Deenan, undeniably the most detestable, loathsome individual ever to walk the earth, willfully decided Monday to devote his miserable life and all of its awful ambitions to the field of marketing. ‘I think it’s the career path that will best utilize my networking skills and my ability to think outside the box,’ said Deenan, whose smug, gloating tone and shit-eating smile just make you want to punch his goddamn teeth in. ‘So I’m definitely thinking marketing. Either that, or PR.’ Deenan’s mother refused to comment on why she didn’t abort the despicable pile of human excrement when she had the chance."
Part of me laughs. Part of me cries.
Let’s see where Marketers show up this year on the Edelman Trust Barometer.
Is it just me, or do we all hope that this does not include people in Digital Marketing? (maybe that’s just wishful thinking).
(hat tip – Julien Smith).
Never another podcast episode or article 
Yeah, we marketers have a general rep kind of like used car salesmen. Funny, though–the truth is that ethical marketing actually works better. I actually started a campaign to get 25,000 business leaders around the world to pledge ethics: http://www.business-ethics-pledge.org
Ha ha! I had a good laugh reading this.
Thanks Mitch!
I think the reason people don’t like marketers is because it’s our job to try an infringe on people’s thought process with our own message. That kind of thing rubs people the wrong way because it undermines their free will.
I also think that part of it is that, as marketers, we’re trying to get something out of people (or get them to do something), and that kind of solicitation is rarely received well, especially from strangers.
@ She Horowitz: ethical marketing works better because it’s usually infringing on someone’s thought process with a message that’s of interest to them. It would probably still get a bad rap, however, because the message was unsolicited.
That was amusing, but more so disheartening. I live in a pretty liberal area of east vancouver, and get a lot of similar reactions when I mention my marketing aspirations. It blows.