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Bogusky: Part deity. Part mechanic of cool. "He looked like Jesus." This is the quote Fast Company uses to begin its new cover paean to Crispin Porter + Bogusky. You can imagine the hockey-haired fellow in question: Alex Bogusky, described as a dead ringer for the Son of God. The source of the quote is an art director depicted as “a blushing 27-year-old hipster in gray New Balance sneakers and a zip-up hoodie.” Who is this smitten fawn? Poor thing. The article by writer Danielle Sacks is ostensibly about Crispin’s Herculean task to make Microsoft cool again after getting the snot beaten out of it by Apple’s cool products and ads. Whenever Fast Company covers advertising agencies, the results are uneven. Let us take a moment to reflect on the JWT story two ago (also written by Sacks) with Ty Montague and Rosemarie Ryan sledgehammering walls. This time around, Bogusky gets full-on adulation from Sacks. He’s a “mechanic of cool” and “for nearly a decade, the unhip have flocked to Bogusky in the hope that a little of his mystique might rub off.” Bogusky has one line that will really have the Crispin-hating hordes in a lather: “Life conspires to beat the rebel out of you.” But the most interesting part of a pretty standard puff piece is probably Chuck Porter laying into MDC, saying it shouldn’t be a publicly traded company and “is not designed at this point to deliver ongoing quarter-on-quarter growth.” And Chuck is MDC's “chief strategist.” Ouch. Oh, and by the way, Crispin’s Microsoft work is due to break in July. UPDATE: The story has now been posted online. —Posted by Brian Morrissey

May 14, 2008 in Morrissey | Permalink

Comments

Bogusky isn't involved in the creative process any more now that he is a co-chair. This falls on the shoulders of co-ECDs Andrew Keller and Rob Reilly to inspire the creative department.

Posted by: Zach O. | May 15, 2008 9:08:27 AM

I really liked what they did for Gateway.

Posted by: Sam Crispin | May 15, 2008 7:56:31 PM

Uhhhh....total crap. This is exactly what is wrong with out industry. Alex Bogusky and Jesus should never be in the same sentence, unless of course you are saying, "Jesus Christ can you beleive Alex Bogusky let the Orville Deadenbacher work actually leave the office?"

Posted by: Adam Kmiec | May 17, 2008 8:53:56 PM

This may be obvious, but the simple fact is that Microsoft software products simply DO NOT WORK, and do not bring usability into the equation, which produces extremely frustrating software (useit.com) and results in lost customers for life. Marketing will not change this fact.

I would be willing to put up with the weekly system crashes if the software was intuitive and usable. So as the ultimate solution without being open source is to open up the phone and emails lines to bring in user comments on a massive scale. The users will be your designers and evolve Microsoft into the next best thing to Open Source.

Basically listening carefully to all the comments that users have. Changing the way the MS system works to "User Built", "You request a feature... we add it!". If you get a certain number of suggestions for a feature, then just implement it. Simple!

Posted by: Edward Anastas | May 18, 2008 1:35:22 PM

Brian...
It's obvious that the people who write shit like this know nothing about the biz... Remember all the puff pieces about Julie Roehm before she shot herself in her "Rock Star" foot at Wal-Mart? As Adam says... Think Orville, or "Man-Laws" featuring another zombie... Burt Reynolds. CP+B's batting average has been declining ever since the Mini.
Cheers/George

Posted by: George Parker | May 18, 2008 7:16:57 PM

Makes me wonder if Microsoft looked at Crispin's past tech work. Gateway computers? Earthlink? Not a good sign.

Posted by: | May 20, 2008 1:22:33 AM

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