The Guardian: Points of View
“Points of View”, The Guardian, circa 1988. How refreshing in an era of political manipulation, subverted and slanted media and the decline of reason. When I first saw it a video (yes, I am that ancient!) of great tv commercials in the Nineties, the effect on me was stunning to say the least.
In an interview I read, John Webster, Boase Massimi Pollitt (BMP, later DDB London) was asked, “How did you get your idea for Guardian’s “Points of View” tv spot idea? “ He replied, “I normally never know how I come up with ideas but in this case Frank Budgen and I do know our inspiration. We had just seen Akira Kurosawa’s “Rashomon” a few weeks ago and said, well, all we have to do is compress Kurosawa’s masterpiece into 30 seconds .”
Tribute to John Webster:
What marked out Webster's work was its humanity, his eye for human foibles, idiosyncrasies and telling detail. He was forever collecting chance remarks that had amused him, odd photographs, clips of film and music, all stored away for possible use.
John Webster preferred to work largely on his own but spent considerable time coaching youngsters, a role for which he was in much demand.
Dave Trott wrote in his obituary:
“Even as I'm writing this (obituary of John Webster ), I'm wondering what John would have thought of it . "It's a bit boring, isn't it? Can't you put some jokes in?".
But, as I say, John didn't want to impress anyone. He always told me what we did was trivial compared with important jobs, such as nursing or teaching. That sense of perspective gave him the clarity to be much more powerful and truly effective than the rest of us who take advertising too seriously.”
A couple of decades ago he bought a house in France which came with a tiny vineyard; he was proud of the wine he produced and sold - at ridiculously low prices - to his friends. He liked to point out that there were two ways you could go in life: you could go into advertising and work excessively long hours in a highly competitive environment, eventually having enough money to buy a small house in France. Or you could just be a French peasant and not bother with the other bit. ”
John Webster, 1934-2006, RIP. I never had the chance to meet him but I grew up with many of his creations.
