A look back when I stepped into the world for a few years,
which I see very differently today
A Personal Revelation
After 10 years of studying at ŠUP and VŠVU, followed by work at Burnett, BBDO, Jandl, core4, and Wunderman Vienna, life took me in a new direction. Moving abroad, becoming a mother, and facing different circumstances pushed me to redefine myself. Looking back, this is a brief story of my “brand (end) love story.” It emerged from various events, influenced by my choices, the decisions of others, and even what felt like divine intervention. This moment of realization brought everything into the light.
Commercial advertising never truly resonated with me. It never captured my heart, yet life led me there. I was given a chance to see behind the scenes—to witness how things were managed, how advertisers lived, and the contrast between the values they promoted and the ones they actually held.
Perfect artificial visuals combined with catchy headlines no longer make sense to me. Now, with artificial intelligence stepping in, this entire industry is facing a chance to redefine itself—perhaps more truthfully than ever before.
The challenge of life
The biggest challenge of my professional life came when I was hired as a graphic designer at WLB. After completing a few assignments, the creative director, Peter K., called me and told me I had been accepted into the team. On my first day, he informed me I would be working with the team for the cigarette brand L&M.
What now? Should I accept this fate? My academic education, my studies, and the guidance of my professors from VŠVU—professors Longauer, Stankoci, Drličiak, and Pichler (ŠÚV)—who had supported us in developing a higher aesthetic and searching for artistic values, suddenly felt irrelevant. After a year and 8 months, I left.
Beautiful projects crossed my path—chocolate boxes for Fidorky, credit cards for Unicreditbank, and many other memorable creative stories. But as Mr. Shepherd once said in a lecture at Digital University, those “Golden Nails” campaigns don’t work in reality. I must partly agree.
The arty seniors were either happy or unhappy to work on these projects. Writing with statues on shelves is exciting, but who sees them other than the statues themselves? And what was really happening here?
Is it about a gentleman named “Ego,” the sandbox, or the “Art Director of the Year” category? A boy’s world in adult form—or the opposite?
Big “love”
Those “big hunts” blown up for a sense of importance, golden statuettes for lying. The false illusion of creativity is worth a lot even today. But that “sum” could also have another meaning and give something else a real dimension in ordinary human life. For example, the paediatric hospital in Poddunajské Biskupice or even in Kramary would need a new toilet quite urgently, or just such crap as new furniture for the rooms or toilet paper. Because that one piece from the Ministry of Health is not enough for three people in a room for a week.
In creative teams there were “apparently” few women . One.
What’s the problem? Two decades ago. How it is exactly today, I don’t know. Everywhere men were and are visible in a great preponderance. It’s my observation, I’m not going to comment on it to analyze it or address it. But honestly the ads, like “let’s put a pretty grandma in there” were aesthetically appealing, but profoundly shallow. To me, they’re just a testament to the human and spiritual level of their creators at the time. And the era itself.
The Misuse of Sex Symbols in Advertising
Displaying red pouty lips and “size 4 boobs” where there is no logical connection makes little sense. The only link is a reflection of the creator’s immature mental state. Sex symbols can be effective, but they don’t belong everywhere. In advertising, they should be used only in specific contexts and categories.
For example, they certainly don’t belong in an ad for a company selling security doors. Imagine a digital drawing of a “sexy bone” in a latex corset sitting on a flying doorway, the corset bursting at the seams at the exact spot where her breasts are most prominent. The headline: “Protect the most precious thing you have at home.”
In this case, the company owner has revealed more about himself and his mental state than he likely intended.