★☆☆☆☆

Dir. Doug Pray. 2009. N/R. 89mins. Documentary.

Art & Copy, a celebratory documentary about the history of the advertising industry, is as visually enticing as any of the puffery revisited during its run time. All the big ones are here, from the Lyndon Johnson “Daisy” spot to the “Just Do It” Nike slogan inspired by the final words of spree killer Gary Gilmore. Yet director Doug Pray barely probes the troubling depths of these cultural signifiers and the people who created them. His film is less an illuminating examination than it is an act of myopic rehabilitation.

It doesn’t matter how much garrulous delusion the subjects spout. Pray buys it wholesale and propagates the myth that there’s something to respect…

“everything is an ad... it’s like air and water. it’s all around you. it can happen to you.

only watched for a paper i’m writing for my niece, lol.

i was gna write something abt how capitalism might be evil but i still fuckin love ads (that are good) and i think the ad agency is so fucking cool, but instead i just wanna comment on how there’s so many men in here who openly admit to having unresolved resentment against their fathers LMFAOOOOO. like a guy deadass admitted he doesn't go to therapy even though he should, LOLLLL. LOLLLLLLLLLL. LOLLLLLLLLLLLL. 

also what they do is so cool but also so controlling and manipulative but at least they’re self aware…

Simply because an idea proves to be successful and a few people get very rich because of it does not mean that the person responsible for that idea is worthy of praise - that is not something that you will learn from watching Art & Copy. These titans of the advertising world, these mercenary propagandists of consumerism and the industries of culture are all rich enough to spare a moment for introspection, and, finding themselves sans anything profitable to hawk, it seems they've decided to make a stirring advertisement for themselves. This is a decent documentary, but it may document with slightly more nuance than Doug Pray actually intended.

These ad men and women are the picture of conceit. Their unflappable…

Doug Pray’s documentary, Art and Copy, is about the advertising industry and features many of the high end advertising agencies. This documentary was really interesting to watch and listen to the minds of the people who created award winning advertisements. Even though this film was about advertising, it was ultimately discussing the concept of expressing oneself through art. All of the interviewees discussed the importance of creativity for their jobs and how creativity is a key ingredient in creating a beautiful and effective advertisement. Furthermore, each person’s ads seemed to have reflected their own personal lives. One of the interviewees had a theatrical background and incorporated that theatrical aspect in her ads. Another interviewee grew up fighting in the streets…

★☆☆☆☆

Dir. Doug Pray. 2009. N/R. 89mins. Documentary.

Art & Copy, a celebratory documentary about the history of the advertising industry, is as visually enticing as any of the puffery revisited during its run time. All the big ones are here, from the Lyndon Johnson “Daisy” spot to the “Just Do It” Nike slogan inspired by the final words of spree killer Gary Gilmore. Yet director Doug Pray barely probes the troubling depths of these cultural signifiers and the people who created them. His film is less an illuminating examination than it is an act of myopic rehabilitation.

It doesn’t matter how much garrulous delusion the subjects spout. Pray buys it wholesale and propagates the myth that there’s something to respect…