Guardian Columnist Disses Northern Ad

Today's admeisters stress pinpoint accuracy: Deliver your sales pitch for gold-plated garlic presses only to people who think gold-plated garlic presses are totally cool.

Aspirational advertising spreads a wider net. Generations have learned what to buy when they get rich by leafing through the pages of The New Yorker. (You're unlikely to purchase a Rolex or a Bentley someday if you've never heard of them.)

If Thomas Ricks had recognized the value of aspirational advertising, his Guardian column might have been less grumpy. Northern Trust's "Greater" message draws particular ire:

[T}he full page ad that set me off on this tear came on page 10, when a relatively young man – his bearded thirty-ish face illuminated as he stares off to the side – is shown behind the capitalized headline “GREATER IS ELEVATING THE FAMILY NAME INTO AN ICON.” The text below, from a trust company, explains that, OK, you have your “business ownership and personal wealth”, but now you have to move up to the next step, “build something that lasts”. Not only is being comfortable no longer the goal, being wealthy is no longer enough.

Admittedly, Northern's message encourages greed and egotism:

"How do you feel now that you're taking $50 million out of the company?"  

"I feel great." 

"So why are you moping around like a dog who lost his bone?"

"I want to feel greater."

But greed, Michael Douglas reminded us in "Wall Street," is good. And although audiences were supposed to scorn that sentiment, the film reportedly inspired a good number of young people to seek a Wall Street career.