William Drenttel opines on the all-white-male jury of an Adbusters design competition:
Nearly a decade into a new century, I believe it is unacceptable for a design organization, foundation, board of directors, magazine or other enterprise, to mount an initiative with an all male panel of judges — or, put another way, “white, native English-speaking men from the U.S., British Isles or Australia.” Such behavior is no longer acceptable and should not be tolerated by a community of designers (or any other community). Designers around the world should just say no.
On the heels of Michael Bierut’s rave for Mad Men comes William Drenttel’s admission: I Was A Mad Man.
Then the CEO [of Krystal Restaurants] turns to me, ignoring everyone else, and asks me to take out my wallet. He asks me how much money I have. I count about $150, and tell him so. He smiles, looks me squarely in the eye, and asks: “Would you spend your last $150 on this shit?”
The rest of the story involves me telling him to take out his own wallet and me swearing I’d spend not only my money but all of his. And we did. We spent all of Krystal’s money, millions of dollars. We made second-rate advertising, and they had second-rate stores with really second-rate hamburgers. We deserved each other.
