Respect improves life, and for this reason, it is better to take each step like eating fish: very carefully!

If an advertising client is going to invest a dollar or a hundred thousand, be it a soft drink, a bank or a politician, he better say something that adds, that serves and motivates. Who needs another catchy jingle? Who is interested in a useless polemic? Who is asking for another bad idea? Who wants more than what has already been done?

Personally, I am outraged when an advertiser degrades our profession to the level of what is offensive and disgusting. I recognize that everything can be relative and almost everything depends, just as I understand something about circumstances and perhaps more about opportunities. I understand that every coin has two sides, and so, I particularly prefer when a person has only one, because that is called integrity.

I believe that it is not acceptable that social resentment and complexes lead an entire community to think that what is low is publicity and that this is what advertisers are like. I also believe that the only advertising that is worthwhile is the one that adds, the one that dignifies and is effective, the rest is something else. In fact, I also believe that the difference between advertising and manipulation is one word: integrity.

In turn, naivety is the naivety that some people suffer from when they get carried away by promises of quick successes and quick notoriety. To the advertising client, I would say not to trust those who talk about shortcuts or fast tracks. Creativity is of course an accelerator for success, just as public ridicule is effectively a free fall to the bottom of popular opinion.

The end does not justify the means, and responsibility is a value that we must all protect, enhance and promote. Not with words but with example, not with tricks and pirouettes, not with gimmicks and mirrors. Fortunately, there are many more of us who prefer values that promote prosperity and expansion. Respect improves life.

So, I apologize for this brief detour to return to my agenda for the day, which by the way, has a lot of Via Costarricense, and of course, of doing business and advertising.

With our eyes set on the future we want to build, let’s move forward!