I learned plenty from this doc, and I'm IN the business! Your original expectations -- though they were thankfully overturned -- seemed at first to be in league with what other naysayers expected of it going in, only they were apparently appalled that it instead tried to get at the heart of what makes the best ads work, and in a positive way, and how the creatives behind them think about a LOT of things, not just the work in front of them. That, I think, it one of the key lessons of the film; all of these people have a unique view of the marketplace and the world beyond it, and its shared -- more or less -- among them. Similar thought processes can be found in nearly everyone who works in this industry, and this film is simply meant to illuminate that, and it does so with candour and humour. The people in this doc excel in their professions just the way anyone else excels in theirs, but more than just about anyone else in media they remain anonymous and disconnected from the final product to all but those who share their passion and work with them, which is as it should be, however unfortunate. It's about time a show came along that simply introduced us to the real people behind the profession, rather than some scathing lefty expose of some perceived scurrilous effects of advertising (of which there surely are plenty, but let someone else make that film, I say). I think the main reason that the film is entertaining is because it's subjects are entertaining people, as creative types often tend to be (even if they're not without their own dark sides some days). They have to be! My only regret is that the show wasn't a PBS miniseries that allowed us to spend even MORE time with these folks learning what makes great advertising tick. It may be most enlightening to those in the field or considering a career in it, but hopefully it reveals to disinterested parties just how much work actually goes into something we all take for granted.
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