Andrew Cracknell must be one of the luckiest people ever; not by birth, he is far from the smooth, confident guy he presents himself as; a boy who, at the age of 16, completed his entire education with only four seniors. He stumbled into copywriting in 1968 – at CDP, of all places – and left in 2003 after a distinguished and sometimes colorful career in which he creatively ran KMP, FCO, FCB, WCRS, Ammirati Puris Lintas and Bates UK, then storied agencies that are now all tarnished and lamented.
But think about it. Advertising, in London and New York between 1968 and 2003. Almost to the day, some would say that the industry couldn’t have experienced a more glorious era, not just professionally but personally too. And a lot of it glitters and glitters in his novel, But now you are here.
Cracknell is something of an advertising historian himself The real crazy ones is, for me, the most accurate and compelling analysis of New York’s creative revolution of the 1960s. Because he refuses to succumb to the hagiographic breathlessness of so many accounts of the period, he is well placed to capture the essence.
Set between 1971 and 1974 in a London agency with New York connections and then again in London and New York between 1994 and 2001 – possibly drawn from personal experience – we see the world through the eyes of a confident and self-assured English creative director in his colorful professional and harrowing personal life, with the harrowing part often being his own fault.
It accompanies him through transatlantic life and the times of these eras. The restaurants, theaters, events, the way of life, which sometimes reads almost like a love letter to the two cities. It’s not about advertising – you won’t find detailed descriptions of art directors hitting clients or a drunk MD ranting about the tops being left off by magic markers – but it’s a very believable, living, breathing story of an advertising executive from that era. And if you, like me, spent a lot of time on planes during this time, it has a huge impact.
The plot is difficult to describe without giving away the two, possibly three major plot twists, none of which I expected. Now all I can tell you is that the common observation of the people I know who have read it is that, like me, they could hardly put it down.
There are, as befits the period, plenty of musical references and Cracknell has compiled them into a “soundtrack” album (search). But now you are here on Spotify). And the book, which I think would make a perfect Christmas present (so says an email from Cracknell here) for anyone who has happy, fuzzy memories of that time, or actually has a skin in the game, is only available from andrew@andrewcracknell.com.
(“I recently got into a fight with Jeff Bezos, and I’m punishing him by keeping my novel off Amazon,” says Cracknell. What I think about now is pretty typical Cracknellism.)
When asked what a 21-year-old just starting out in the business would think, he replies: “I think they would most likely be in disbelief. And possibly horrified. I’d like to know…”
So buy it, read it, give it as a gift, marvel at a bygone age of advertising and let Cracknell know what you think, email address above. As was common with creative directors of the time, he always welcomed consumer feedback.
Tim Lindsay is Chairman of D&AD
