The Ethical Optimist

If you are a fan of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory — or the parent of a teenager — you probably remember Veruca Salt. According to Wikipedia:

Veruca, the only daughter of the wealthy Henry and Angina Salt, regularly exerts petulant behavior in order to get what she desires, and even her parents are not immune to her outbursts. When Veruca demands that she must have a Golden Ticket, her father buys numerous cases of Wonka Bars, and orders his factory workers to put aside their regular duties of peanut-shelling and unwrap the bars. The process lasts three days, all of which Veruca spends complaining that she doesn’t have her ticket. When the ticket is finally found, Veruca is “all smiles again.” Her father later confesses to Wonka that he knows his daughter is “a bit of a frump,” yet says that it’s no reason for his daughter to be “burned to a crisp,” on the grounds that he and his wife love their daughter very much.

I’ve had a few clients over the years that have been amazingly similar to little Veruca and her cries of “I want it NOW, Daddy.”

If you are in the agency business, you’ve no doubt had your share of Verucas. The problem, of course, lies in the parenting. Mr. & Mrs. Salt never had the nerve to say “no” to little Veruca, much like the agencies and corporate wonks (wonder if that’s where they got the name Willy Wonka) that tolerate and enable this type of behavior.

We had a situation with such a client recently and actually asked the marketing director why no one had told this leader that a particular project couldn’t be done immediately, lest all the other fires burn out of control. They were quite literally stumped…tell her no? Heaven forbid…in fact, we were told after careful explanation that even though we had a highly defensible position, it wasn’t something their leader wanted to hear.

Excuse me? We’re right, but we can’t say it? Sorry, I named my agency Utopia, not Parrot PR. The idea is that people pay me to think and make logical recommendations, and frankly, to be truthful. Just because someone doesn’t want to hear something does not mean I won’t say it (hopefully, I’ll keep the client despite my ideals).

However, in an age of instant gratification and fear (yes, I said it, fear…fear of losing business), we ARE the experts and need to be respected as such. Screw asking for a seat at the damn table, there’s a chair with my name on it!