My worst almost client

Back in 2015, I was contacted by a marketing firm looking to contract a creative director (when I was a freelance CD in the UK).

They had a large client who ran lots of ongoing campaigns throughout the year; very high-profile work; plenty of budget; need someone urgently; Would I like to know more and set up a meeting?

Pretty flattered that I’d essentially been “head-hunted”, I said I’d love to know more… Who’s the client?

(btw, this was looooooong before I developed any sort of filter for the types of companies I’d work for).

I don’t recall the name of the company, or if I was even told the name, but they were a tobacco company.

When he said that, my immediate reaction was a recoil… He heard it over the phone – pretty sure he expected it actually.

But embarrassing as it is to admit, I actually considered it.

They would have been an absolute whale client – I’d get to send them lots of big invoices and fund lots of travel (the main reason we were in the UK).

So all of this suddenly made sense:

• Lots of campaigns through the year (the worst kind);
• High profile work (that would ultimately be banned);
• Plenty of budget (millions);
• …need someone urgently (could it be because everyone who was asked said no?)

My wife and I discussed it. Should I take it? We’ve all done work we’re not proud of, right? The best thing to do would be to milk them of their stinking money and go spend it in the beautiful places we visit, then vow to never take a client like that on ever again. Right?

Not right – at least it didn’t feel right for me. Ultimately I said no, it was just a complete mismatch.

I was right in the midst of developing my dislike for the ad industry (for all the marketing waste I was seeing, every day), so adding a client that I saw as completely unethical to support was not the path forward.

There’s a point to all this.

These days, orgs like the Clean Creatives movement spotlight ad agencies who advance the agenda of harmful companies. There’s an actual shame list – I could have been on it.

Dropping (or saying no to) a client who represents so much revenue – which goes on to enable mortgages, school fees, holidays, and maybe even awards and recognition – is really, crazy, super hard.

I have two little kids now who I’m expecting some pretty tough questions from soon. I’ve already had what does my brain do; where does the Easter bunny live; how does the moon stay there; and where does my poop go?

They’re hard to answer… And while my work history isn’t flawless, at least one question don’t have to answer is “You worked for a tobacco company!?”.

When I said no to that contract, I just knew it wouldn’t be the last offer I’d ever receive – there would be others (and there have been 🙏).

It’s a crazy hard thing to do, but if that one client you’re working with really shouldn’t be on your client list… Ask yourself if you can endure the effort to replace them.

Not drop them… Replace them.