Today’s egglog post presents readers with a rare case of blatant self-promotion acting under the guise of worthy “news”. The news is concurrent interviews from two dichotomized but harmonious publications with egg’s founder and creative director Marty McDonald. The reason we decided to throw caution to the wind and bury our modesty this one time is the serendipity of the situation: two publications, representing the present and the future of our industry, give cause to observe “green” and the trend towards recognition of issues surrounding sustainability in marketing and advertising.

one. a magazine is the periodical of the One Show, the annual award show for creativity that creative professionals in the industry pay homage to as the gold standard for elevated conceptual thinking amidst the sea of communications mediocrity.

The magazine is “…the professional home for advertising’s creative community. Each issue features interviews with the industry’s creative leaders and thinkers, unearthing the latest trends in advertising culture. With its behind-the-scenes coverage of the making of ads - including graphic and web design, directing, special-effects, and editing - the magazine is an index of industry standards for advertising professionals worldwide.”

Then, Sixty, is the student created publication of the Virginia Commonwealth University’s AdCenter, which, in this writer’s opinion, is the preeminent professional advertising program in the country. Sixty is an engrossing rag in its raw creativity and one that any imaginatively minded person can disappear into for a good while, and come out refreshed and inspired by the talent coming out of VCU. It’s energizing to see how such talent will infiltrate the legions of future ad professionals and keep them from becoming too comfortable.

Marty was interviewed by the veteran Warren Burger of one. a magazine, and the talented recent VCU graduate Brian Feeney of Sixty, in regards to what egg is doing on the green front in brand development and advertising. Dichotomy-wise, it is quite reassuring to see that the industry as a whole is paying closer attention to sustainability and actively taking a role in some cases to support these issues, both from the top down and the bottom up. It is exciting to see that large agencies are now developing green strategy departments and green consumer experts, and that the ad schools are also paying close attention to developments on the sustainability front. We know too that Seattle’s Cornish College for the Arts and School of Visual Concepts are both very engaged with issues surrounding sustainability

Recognizing the self-destructive path we were forging for ourselves, the vision for egg was to use the astonishing systematic power and force of marketing to, in effect, heal thyself. But as a smaller player, we can only do so much good. The future of our industry, as well as that of our economy, environment and overall society, will have to rely on the concept of sustainable and integrity-based business models, supported by ethical marketers.