The Gospel According to Dave
By Issie Peach
A few months ago I bagged the privilege to attend Dave Dye’s talk, titled “Old shit”.
Because I’m (self-admittedly) a little freaky advertising geek, you best believe my notepad was sitting on my lap throughout the whole talk, and my pen didn’t stop writing until Dave’s mouth fell silent.
Therefore, for this SCAB I thought I’d share a few nuggets of inspiration I took from Dave’s talk, some nuggets that make me laugh, and others that I refer back to this day as if they were written by the weathered hands of Christ himself.
Anyway, enough fangirling, let’s get into it:
- Cool kids excavate the past
Call me an archaeologist x
- Dead men don’t wear plaid
This probably doesn’t apply to dead Scotsmen
- Facts are better than fluff
As are most things. But still, good point Dave
- Admitting a problem can be more powerful than ignoring it
Lest we forget the Marmite campaigns. Forever iconic. A wonderful slice of advice.
- Ads don’t need to feel like ads
True. Most ads these days are shit, until they’re not ads.
- Controversy can be helpful
Petition to employ Dave Dye as Kanye West’s PR guy.
- Be an idiot
I ticked this box a long time ago.
- The best arguments aren’t always rational
A prime example being the time my brother and I nearly killed each other over a game of Mario Kart.
- Violence can be funny
I’d like to refer back to my previous point on this one.
- Assault the senses
Can I take this as permission to set off industrial quantities of stink bombs in central London?
In all seriousness this was a f*cking brilliant talk, and I’d recommend any ad-lander to jump at the chance to get tickets to his next one. So, here’s a big fat thank you to Dave Dye for allowing me and a handful of other starry-eyed SCA students to pick his weird and wonderful brain.
P.S. If you ever read this Dave, would you mind giving me a book crit? Thanks x
