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David Kennedy, Chad Tiedeman, George Lois, Phyllis K. Robinson, Jim Durfee ... see more see more... , Mary Wells , Charlie Moss , Hal Riney , Jean-Yves LeGall , Lee Clow , Cliff Freeman , Tommy Hilfiger , Rich Silverstein , Jeff Goodby , Jeff Manning , Dan Wieden , Ed Rollins , Liz Dolan

The advertising industry in America exists in a paradox -- while it's all but impossible to go a day without being exposed to the work of leading figures in the advertising business, very little is kn... read more read more...own about the people behind the ads and the process by which they're created. Filmmaker Doug Pray offers a rare look inside the business of advertising in the documentary Art & Copy, in which he profiles a number of the most respected men and women in the ad game as they talk about their work, their motivations, and their views on the creative process. Pray's interview subjects include Lee Clow, who created memorable television spots for Apple's Macintosh computer and later their iPod MP3 player; Rich Silverstein and Jeff Goodby, who gave new life to the dairy industry with the "Got Milk?" campaign; Hal Riney, who helped put Ronald Reagan in the White House with his "Morning in America" TV spot; George Lois, who remade popular culture by coining the slogan "I Want My MTV"; and Mary Wells, the first woman to run a major ad agency and the creator of the "I (heart) New York" campaign. Sponsored in part by the One Club, an organization dedicated to excellence in advertising, Art & Copy received its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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65% liked it

711 ratings

Critics

58% liked it

26 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 26 min.

Directed by: Doug Pray

Release Date: March 27, 2009

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DVD Release Date: May 4, 2010

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Flixster Reviews (108)

  • danperry17
    January 27, 2010
    danperry17
    A bit dry, and a bit inside, but this is a film for ad geeks that focuses on advertising since the big change: the day that art directors and copy writers started collaborating to produce not just ads, but the ideas behind the ads.

    It used to be that writers would write their ... read morecopy, then send it to the art directors, who would lay it out. The new model has resulted in the creative pairing most agencies now use: one art director, one copy writer, and with any luck, one good ad. This approach has had such success that it has even moved into the newspaper world, more or less killing layout departments and resulting in software for "page ownership", which turns the copy editor into an editor, photo editor and layout artist all at once, as in the end they produce one vertically integrated page.

    This is the insight I took away from the first half-hour, and the bit about newspapers is me applying that insight to my own past work experience. After thinking through this, I watched the film alternate between self-congratulatory interviews with the creators of major campaigns - for VW Beetle, MacIntosh, Air Jordan and other products - and disembodied stats about how many ads we all see in a day, lifetime etc.

    An interesting series of anecdotes that lets you inside some big industry brains and even bigger successes, but you have got to LOVE advertising to really enjoy this one.
  • hypathio7
    February 20, 2012
    hypathio7
    This doc turns its camera, early in its run time, on a young man who's family has worked putting up highway billboards for several generations. He admits he does not know anyone who makes advertisements and then the film seems to forget him. My wife was assigned to watch this by ... read moreher television promotions and advertising department. It is a mixed bag of talking heads giving bits of history and insight at varying levels of engrossment. I was most interested in those who talked about innovations in combining graphics (art) and print (copy). The few super bowl ads that are highlighted and how they came to be were also lots of fun.
  • mattspencer3
    October 24, 2009
    mattspencer3
    Interesting look at advertisement, messages. Not so much design, but more about the story behind it and how they thought outside the box to develop an innovative message.

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Critic Reviews

Walter V. Addiego
November 12, 2009
Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle

Pray inserts facts that are eye-popping (the food industry spends $34 billion annually on ads) and alarming (every year, the average child sees 20,000 TV commercials). Full Review

Peter Schilling
November 5, 2009
Peter Schilling, Minneapolis Star Tribune

Art & Copy offers an intriguing -- some might say frightening -- glimpse into the world that has prompted a generation of Americans to religiously tune into the Super Bowl just to watch those short mo... Full Review

Kenneth Turan
September 11, 2009
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

They are the giants of modern advertising, and they have some alluring tales to tell. Full Review

Owen Gleiberman
September 2, 2009
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

An entertaining but also oddly naive documentary about American advertising. Full Review

V.A. Musetto
August 21, 2009
V.A. Musetto, New York Post

When all is said and done, Art & Copy is little more than an ad for advertising. Full Review

Joanne Kaufman
August 21, 2009
Joanne Kaufman, Wall Street Journal

It all sounds rather grandiose, but it's hardly a surprising view from folks accustomed to thinking big. Full Review

Mike Hale
August 21, 2009
Mike Hale, New York Times

The world may be going Mad Men, but Doug Pray's documentary Art & Copy presents a very different picture of the advertising industry. Full Review

Duane Byrge
August 19, 2009
Duane Byrge, Hollywood Reporter

Like a good ad, Art & Copy bounds along and never bores. That's a big credit to Pray's savvy compilation and of editor Phillip Owens' crisp cuts.

Brian Miller
August 18, 2009
Brian Miller, Village Voice

Everyone quoted here, and perhaps Pray himself, wants to be seen as an artist. But in this economy, those of us who pay for ordinary stuff might not be so inclined to worship this particular art form. Full Review

Marty Mapes
October 18, 2009
Marty Mapes, Movie Habit

Doug Pray asked them what it was like to change the world on behalf of someone else's product Full Review

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