Filmmaker Doug Pray’s Art & Copy Explores How Advertising Impacts Culture
Michael Jordan, dressed in a black overcoat, steps out of an SUV. As he walks passed photographers and fans, his voice is heard: “I missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. And I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot, and missed. I failed over and over and over again in my life. And that’s why I succeed.”
“If you miss you miss, but at least you swung the bat as hard as you could.” These words, spoken by ad man David Kennedy, echo the “Fail Harder” mantra that permeates the halls of Wieden + Kennedy, the Portland, Oregon-based ad agency that he co-founded. The agency is responsible for shaping so much of our culture, having created “Just Do It” for Nike and producing the 1999 Air Jordan commercial described above. Yet, outside of the advertising industry, the names Dan Wieden and David Kennedy are largely unknown. These creative mavericks are just two of several who have molded our culture with witty taglines, colorful images, and thoughtful insights. And it is perhaps for this reason that filmmaker Doug Pray sought to delve beyond the TV screen and magazine page to discover how this art and copy have helped ignite movements and influence our lives. In his new feature documentary Art & Copy, Pray introduces us to notable advertising legends like George Lois, Mary Wells, Hal Riney, Lee Clow, and Cliff Freeman, as well as their agencies, their work, and their impact.
David Kennedy and Dan Wieden in the Portland, Oregon headquarters of Wieden + Kennedy.
Pray’s previous documentaries, about surfers, truck drivers, rockers, and other topics, include Surfwise (2007), Big Rig (2007), and Hype! (1996). Despite the obvious differences in the filmmaker’s subjects, they each share one common theme. Pray said, “Like my other films, this ad film is about the innate human urge to express oneself creatively.”
The film was conceived in 2005 after its producers approached Pray about making a movie about advertising. With the backing of The One Club, the industry’s foremost non-profit organization, along with its CEO Mary Warlick as executive producer, Pray was granted access to some of advertising’s most talented minds. From there, he leaped into a world that’s completely foreign to most people. The advertising industry, as a whole, is often regarded by some as a seedy step above (or below) used care sales. Those who are quick to blame the media for all of society’s ills often look towards advertising as a thick smog that clouds our vision (and our judgment). It’s true that advertising clutter piles high and most of it just isn’t very good – let’s say about 98% of it. But that’s not the advertising that interested Pray. He said, “… I felt it could be a more powerful statement to focus the film only on those rare few who actually moved and inspired our culture with their work” — in other words, that 2% of advertising that’s actually worth admiring and the people who create it. Because as Lois puts it in the film, “Great advertising makes food taste better, makes cars run better. It changes the perception of everything.”
David Kennedy and Dan Wieden created "Just Do It" for Nike.
Art & Copy is skillfully structured in a way that avoids the “talking heads” trap into which some documentaries fall. Though listening to some of the industry’s creative leaders and pioneers speak about their lives and their work is fascinating, the film takes interesting turns into the more “physical” side of advertising. Images of billboard installations and satellites launching in French Guiana are interspersed throughout, as well as compelling facts, such as “Michael Jordan’s value to Nike has been estimated at $5.2 billion” and Americans consume 5,000 advertising messages daily. Regarding advertising’s omnipresence in our lives, Jeff Goodby of San Francisco’s Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, observes, “It’s like air and water. It’s around you. It’s going to happen to you.”
The film delves into the stories behind some of America’s most loved and well-crafted campaigns. Presenting them chronologically, beginning with the creative revolution of the 1960s onward, we are treated to the sights and sounds of legendary campaigns for Volkswagen, Tommy Hilfiger, MTV, Apple, Ronald Reagan, the California Milk Processor Board, and so many others.
It’s hard to believe a film like Art & Copy might appeal to an audience outside of the ad industry, but there are plenty of “take-aways” for even the common movie-goer. Pray’s study of advertising and the men and women who create it is deeply introspective, and he seeks to find commonalities between the world of advertising and the notion of creativity. They go hand in hand. When Jim Durfee and Mary Wells and Hal Riney speak about their work, they’re really speaking about creativity. They’re visionaries who translated their minds’ renderings into tangible work. Their ambition, relentlessness, and spirit may easily inspire an artist or a lawyer or a nurse. Pray emphasized, “It’s about finding meaning in whatever you’re doing.”
Lee Clow and his agency, TBWA\Chiat\Day, are responsible for Apple's popular campaigns.
Lee Clow, the creative powerhouse behind agency TBWA\Chiat\Day and Apple’s memorable advertising, says in the film, “I happen to believe that when advertising is done well, the wall or the billboard that celebrates a brand artfully and beautifully can be part of our culture, as opposed to some form of pollution.” In the end, Art & Copy is about the formation and fashioning of culture, just like Pray’s previous works.
The film screened at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. It is currently screening at the IFC Center in New York City and will expand to more cities in the near future. For more information about the film and its screenings, visit www.artandcopyfilm.com.
