Greetings Victims of Adness:

First of all, let’s get something straight: Not all advertising is bad. In fact, some of it is so good, we wish we’d created it.

On the other hand, it’s no secret most advertising is not terrific. In fact, a lot of it is irritating, offending and ticking off the very people it’s trying to persuade – namely, you. And unfortunately for those of us who are trying our darndest to make good advertising, we’re guilty by association.

In a recent poll, advertising professionals were ranked the second-least-trusted professionals in the world. Politicians ranked first. Even attorneys are more trusted than us. Then again, as an industry we haven’t done much to gain your trust, have we? Instead of listening to you, most advertising is shouting at you. Instead of asking what you want, it’s telling you what you need. Instead of asking for an invitation, it’s rudely barging in.

If bad advertising were a person, it would be locked up in a sanitarium for displaying extreme antisocial behavior. We call this condition “adness.” So to make it better, we created StopTheAdness.org, where you can tell the people who create and publish ads what you like and don’t like about advertising. If you’re in the biz, you can help stop the spread of adness by signing the pledge. To find out other ways you can join the cause to StopTheAdness, simply click on Wanna Help?

For years, we’ve believed in seeking deep understanding of those who purchase our clients’ brands – so much so we’ve teamed up with anthropologists. Our partners at Context-Based Research Group, the world’s largest network of cultural anthropologists, will analyze the conversations on this site to learn how to make advertising better. The results will help us develop the framework for a new social contract between the advertising industry and consumers. We’ll publish our insights and email them to you if you sign up to receive them. So sign up and opt in for future correspondence.

Over time and based on your feedback, we’ll be constantly updating the site with ever-more useful tools and information to help stop the adness.

At the very least, your input will help make our own advertising more relevant, useful, entertaining and rewarding for our clients and, most importantly, you. At the most, who knows? We might even have a positive effect on the entire advertising industry.

Respectfully Yours:

Carton Donofrio Partners

PS:  Wanna Help? If you’re sick and tired of being a victim of adness, click here to find out what you can do.