Let's stop pretending we're brave

First, a confession: we've recently banned the word 'brave' at Creature. There are two main reasons for that:

1. Buying great work shouldn’t be brave. We’ve let ‘brave’ sit in opposition to ‘safe’, which is just nonsense: there’s nothing ‘safe’ about making work that real people don’t care about, that real people don’t notice, and that real people don’t behave any differently once they’ve seen it. That’s not safe, that’s fucking irresponsible: comms can only work if they’re noticed, and doing something that’s the same as what everyone else is doing isn’t going to get anyone to notice you.
2. The second reason is slightly bigger, and probably the main reason I’m looking forward to the Marketing Society’s Brave Conference: it’s a ludicrous word to use in the context of what we do. In a world that’s full of people who are ACTUALLY being brave day in day out, whether that’s by riding the waves nobody else will ride, fighting for equality, or speaking truth to power in a world where truth becomes a dirtier word with every day that passes, using it to describe making an ad that might not please everybody… It just feels a bit silly.

So that’s what I’m hoping for: to feel a bit humbled, maybe a bit shamed, and certainly a lot awed and inspired; and then to try to make the work I do a little bit better (and, if you insist, braver) as a result.