Attorney Advertising…where is this going?
Last year there was a Super Bowl ad for a personal injury attorney. It was done in a movie trailer format and with a Hollywood budget. If you missed it, here it is:
It bears no resemblance to the practice of law, and the story doesn’t even really make sense. How do you avenge the murder of your brother by getting into personal injury law? Did State Farm off him? I suppose I wouldn’t put it past them, but it’s not like we’re in the vigilante business, exactly.
And here’s a now infamous one:
This one is patently absurd, and if I had a DWI, the last thing I’d personally want would be to have an attorney that crashes into cars and screams a lot. But the thing is, we’re talking about these ads, which means they are getting attention and therefore working for the people doing them.
Is that wrong? I wouldn’t say so. There are some old school attorneys (and regular folks) who might say that this sort of hucksterism is in some way demeaning to the once-proud profession of law. And maybe they’re right. But I think it might also be argued that it is now in the nature of our country’s social conscience to take everything and everyone less seriously. Doctors are not viewed with the respect they once were, and lawyers are more reviled than anything else. If anything, I would imagine that the attorneys who get in on the self-deprecation, the tongue-in-cheek parody, and/or the over-the-top showmanship are the ones that are going to prosper as business people as this era continues.
And I think that’s the point. When you consider the practice of the law (or any of the traditional white-collar sort of vocations) as a profession, then that implies a certain stodgy traditionalism that doesn’t jive with today’s media norms. But when you consider the practice as a business, then that’s when you turn the corner. I think that the practices that are on the cutting edge of advertising are the ones that are getting more business. The question remains, and will only be answered by Darwinian business processes, what does the consumer prefer – a grandfatherly Atticus Finch, or a screaming Adam Reposa? If I know America, I think we’re leaning more toward the Reposas of the world every day.
I would love to hear your thoughts. Let me know what you think about attorney advertising in this day and age by commenting on Twitter (@jahatty) or Facebook (link below):
Thanks!