This is not an insight. But it is something that I got a serious kick out of tonight. I have not posted for a while because my life is a bit topsy-turvey these days. And I figured that a slice of my life might make for a good post.
This evening I caught myself in a truly absurd act. Because of various life events I have a ‘to do’ list as long as Lindsay Lohan’s Rap sheet. And this evening I had to pause to laugh at myself for actually writing on my ‘to do’ list ‘make a better to do list.’ Shit, that’s messed up. Talk about first-world problems.
But then I got to thinking, aside from me being super sad for actually writing that down before I realized how ridiculous it is, isn’t quite interesting when things are farcically self-referential? For example when I was at BMP London I once saw an expense return spoof with the line item on it of ‘ink to write this expense report 0.002 pounds’ It made me laugh like a only a strategist can which is generally into their beard in an ironic fashion.
I love stuff like this. I have been obsessed with infinity mirrors since I was a child.
This act also reminded me of my firm belief that this meaningless refraction is not only the signal of the fact that I need to get a grip but is also a HUGE danger for brands. Meaning: if brands just reflect their target audience what actually results is an endless decent into hollow nothingness. That is why so much consumer research is exactly the wrong thing to do. See this article as evidence I’m really passionate about this stuff.
And then I thought about this observation in a non-work context. When all is said and done, the fact that I have a ‘to do’ that has a line item on it of ‘make a better to do list’ is really a laughably small version of infinity. Like I said, not an insight, but a self-referential observation none-the-less.
Now if you will excuse me, I have stuff to do.
smellslikeaninsight 