Sublime (and ridiculous) mission statements

David Burn over at AdPulp is doing an amusing series on “outstanding mission statements”—those corporate credos that ride the fine line between glorious aspiration and utter hogwash. (Type “mission statements” into AdPulp’s search function to read the complete series.) Burn has found interesting statements of self from companies like Patagonia, American Apparel, the Billboard Liberation Front and Bruce Mau Design. The PETA-unfriendly stance taken by Wichita, Kan., ad agency Sullivan Higdon & Sink—the latest in the series—is our favorite. “We hate sheep,” it begins. “Not because they’re fat, lazy creatures that smell bad when it rains. No, we hate sheep because they remind us of marketing that’s content to follow instead of lead. Advertising that’s happy to be quiet, blend in with the flock and go completely unnoticed.” It concludes, “We believe sheep marketing slowly starves the brand that pays for it. Bottom line: Sheep kill brands dead. And that’s why we hate ’em.”

—Posted by Lisa van der Pool

May 19, 2005 | Permalink