Once upon a time, sex was unmentionable among polite people….
Now the subject is inescapable. Topics that were once confined to discreet, brown-paper packages are now fodder for afternoon talk shows and supermarket aisle women’s magazines.
In fact, just a few years ago, my jaw hit the tabletop when I found an article in Redbook — the champion of casserole-carrying, middle-class, mom-and-apple pie probity — on the pleasures of anal sex. (I’m not making this up!)
For better or worse, we’ve come a long way from Puritan/Victorian taboos about sex. But what about money?
Just today, I got feedback on copy I wrote for a brochure about an investment plan. In one section, I listed the key features/benefits of the plan under appropriate category subheads such as, “Participation,” and “Tax advantages.” But the client objected to the one labeled, “Using the money.” Why? Because it’s “too crass.”
But why is it “too crass”? After all, you sign up for the plan in anticipation of a future day when you (or your beneficiaries) can use the money. That’s what it’s all about.
If it’s too crass it’s because it’s too naked — it openly acknowledges the reality beneath the sheets of “planning,” “future,” and “dreams”: money. Filthy lucre.
Think about it: If you have children hovering around the age of puberty, you’ve probably already engaged them in conversations about sex. But do they know how much you earn? How much the mortgage or rent costs? What it takes to pay the bills each month? If they’re like most children, they probably have no idea — the stork brings the income every month, or it’s found every week under the cabbages in the back yard.
I guess the word “crass” hits a sore spot with me. In college, a professor tagged my inquiry with that word when I asked how a certain artist — with outspoken left-wing views — could afford her amazing studio on Prince Street, in the heart of a booming SoHo.
I should have known better. Art is about the spiritual. Or social enlightenment. Or political change. Not about something so crass as mere money. Though, of course, nothing moves in the art world without it.
Little moves in our own world without money. But we like to feel superior to it. As a consequence, every corporate mission statement touts “commitments” to every virtue under the sun — except the one that’s at the core of their existence, turning a profit.
What do you think? Talk dirty to me — tell me what you think about our attitudes toward money.
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The people I normaly associate with are very open about the subject of green and I very much enjoy bringing that mentality to others outside of that group; watching their hearts skip a beat. The more we talk and write about it the more the people using the cr-cr-cr-ass crutch will open up a bit.
If money is the new sex then I guess social networking is the new chocolate.
My clients definitely talk money–first, what will it cost them to hire me and second, what are our goals? I insist that goals are measurable before I take on a client. And measuring growth in units sold and/or dollars is where we want to be. I think the problem discussing money arises when within any organization a class of people make 100 times or 200 times more than the average worker. That is crass in my opinion.
Great post, Jonathan.
Speaking of crass, this might resonate with some of you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTU2He2BIc0
: )
Ann,
I should be ashamed, I suppose, but the video had me laughing from beginning to end. I may be too old to still call myself a free spirit, but old personality traits are hard to lose. Thank you for sharing. By the way, I guess you must have watched, as well, since you know it’s crass. I love it!
Lewis: Oh yeah — I watched it. What’s not to love? Or at least, what’s not to laugh at?
Best line: “We might be vanilla but our Labs are chocolate!”
“But do they know how much you earn?”
Good Lord, the last thing you want is your kid blurbing out how much you make! Otherwise, great post.
I rather expect most young people don’t have a sound grasp of the value of money today – and its the parents who are failing them! A little more well-considered disclosure will certainly help them in the long run!
BTW, in case you missed it, the (very funny) “Tea Partay” video was produced by Bartle Bogle Hegarty for Smirnoff Raw Tea. Here’s the story:
http://www.adweek.com/aw/iq_interactive/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002984057
Thanks again, Ann. This is a good example of why we need to understand our audiences:
“Bartle Bogle Hegarty copywriter Matt Ian said the concept seemed in keeping with the overall marketing strategy, especially since the new Smirnoff product is billed as ‘tea with attitude.’
“The brand is rolling out in the Northeast this summer, which conjured images of ’summer communities like the Hamptons [and] Martha’s Vineyard,’ he said. ‘Having grown up in that world,’ added Ian, who is from Greenwich, Conn., ‘I know that it’s a target that doesn’t get offended easily. It’s good-natured ribbing.’”