Rob Doubal On Stepping Outside The Comfort Zone

Invite McCann London’s CCO/co-president Rob Doubal to a dinner party and you won’t be bored. Just don’t be offended if he speaks out or causes a fuss.

Doubal reflects on what the year has to offer, but criticises self help books and the rhetoric of politicians. Instead, he is inspired by an outspoken Spanish widow and encourages us to also heed her advice and be bold, especially when we're talking creativity.

It’s still early in the year and the Internet is full of design thinking essays and self help plans to ensure we all live the year we promised we would in January. It’s popular stuff... But I’m not so keen.

Generally speaking, I’m skeptical of things which purport to have found a solution to everything. It’s unscientific for so many of them to exist at the same time.

But people seem more than happy to engage. And truthfully, no problems here for me. I’m just another human in pursuit of happiness. Everyone’s riding their own bike on this journey.

But there’s a thing in politics called the Overton Window. It refers to a range of ideas or thoughts or opinions, at any one time that the public are willing to accept.

Politicians operate within this window to keep the discourse going and maintain their credibility. It’s the reason they choose their words carefully, for if they lose the crowd progress becomes slow. The fact that politicians simply change the rhetoric to remain in the window is concerning, but the existence of the window is interesting.

Truthfully, we all operate within these windows every day. Civilisation is a thin veneer.

Next time you’re at a dinner party, try telling the host that you’ve eaten nicer food at other dinner parties, or that in all frankness you hate the table cloth. You’ll likely miss dessert. But when is this window-breaking, type of behavior acceptable? Should it ever be encouraged?

Well, it’s not always clear which window you’re breaking. My favourite story of 2012 was that of Cecilia Gimenez.

She was the well-meaning 83 year-old Spanish widow and amateur painter who, in a bid to prevent her church from spending much needed funds, took it upon herself to restore the priceless Jesus fresco that hung proudly in the church. Jesus ends up looking like a homeless human bear.

It’s incredibly funny, and now an iconic image in itself (below, before and after). There’s so much going on with this story that I love. But most of all, I liked her conviction. At some point, she formed an opinion about what should be done to the painting, and set out and pursued it.

There is no doubt she dipped a toe outside the political, and certainly the religious window, but artistically, she created something wonderful. In the end, the retouched painting saved the village by attracting 150,000 tourists who flocked to see this new ‘work of art’. A beautiful story.

And if you strip away the intolerant religious, political and social windows, it’s an act of real art. Less contrived and conscientiously abrasive than political dissent Ai Wei Wei, but to me, just as meaningful.

So, from an artistic point of view, Cecilia’s actions were entirely within a window of sorts and artistically, not just acceptable, but desirable.

So what does this mean for our industry? Is there an Overton window applied to advertising? Is it acceptable to hold extreme views? Can you be taken seriously if you say you hate advertising? Or indeed if you love it? Do the leaders of our industry dictate that we stay within certain parameters? Does the public really care that we hold fundamental beliefs about advertising when in all other fields, fundamental beliefs are rightly frowned upon? Of course not. And long may that continue.

Our industry knows that mediocrity is fought on the boundaries and that we must constantly step outside the comfort zone to find what is interesting or true. The day we stop pushing is the day we become commercially unviable. The day we stop pursuing the interesting, questioning the status quo, and confronting the truth is the day we cease to be a business. That’s what’s great about it.

Furthermore, our industry lies at the intersection between art and commerce and can therefore play a hand in changing public opinion. We are in a privileged position to be able to steer brands and companies in the way we think could shape a better world. So we must take advantage of our invisibility cloak and play a role.

Forget self-help and design thinking. Think freely and agitate. Be provocative. Aim for the stars and swim for the trees. Miss some desserts and question the establishment. Tell the truth. Be ambitious. Even try and make the world a better place. Use your pens to push what is interesting, and aim for what is fair, without fear of reproach from anyone. Certainly not me. And definitely not Cecilia Giminez. That’s my plan for the year.