I have been in advertising FOREVER

In fact my first client was the snake, I wrote the copy for the (original) apple.

Yes, that one - not the computer/phone/mp3 player one. Image from blather.net

At no stage did I ever think of it as a potential career. To start with I got into it quite by mistake. Insulted by an increase offer of just R10 a month I resigned from my job at an insurance company (long since deceased) and arrived at my sister's office at the Rand Daily Mail (ditto) and announced I was unemployed.

 Image: David Krut publishing

She calmly picked up her phone, called HR (in those days we called it "Personnel") and got me a job in the advertising department.
And so the fun began.
This week I got to drive a car (courtesy of a client) that I absolutely would never have had a chance to drive if I didn't work in advertising. It's just so far out of my financial reach.
The client dropped me an email saying he thought I should drive it. To understand the brand. To live the experience.

You get the idea. And no, I wasn't actually driving a Maybach.

I've done this before - when I worked on a different motoring client. In that instance it was a sports car and I waited for months for the traffic fines to arrive. It seems I turn into a speed monster the second I have access to a car that can actually speed.

It wasn't this one, but it might as well have been

So what's the verdict? 

Awesome. Yes, to have an automatic in Johannesburg's traffic, to have all the bells and whistles, to arrive at Melrose Arch for a dinner is all wonderful. 


But it took me an hour to figure out how to turn on the headlights. It costs more than my house. And I was terrified of someone scratching it. Or worse. And it's 4.9m long - that's a big-ass car to park. 
And Walter took pictures of himself in it and sent them to all his friends who now think we've won the lottery so I'm expecting them to arrive en masse any day now. But it was awesome.