Up the Agency: The Funny Business Of Advertising

by Peter Mayle

Before his glorious retreat to Provence, delightfully chronicled in his best-sellers A Year in Provence and Toujours Provence, Peter Mayle made his career in advertising, beginning as a copywriter and finishing thirteen years later as a creative director ("I think I was also a vice president, " he writes "but I never had the cards printed"). Up the Agency is his caustic valentine to the culture of Madison Avenue, where the tribal customs and rituals are as wondrous to behold as the sights on any anthropological expedition. Treading fearlessly and wittily where no one without a customized BMW and matching Armani suit has gone before, Mayle dissects this odd and endlessly fascinating industry - where the speed of a new talent's ascent can be matched only by his shocking fall months later. Whether describing the perfect ad man, the frenzy and desperation of putting together a new campaign, or the treachery of the fickle product-buying public, Mayle brings his insightful eye to bear on this very funny business, which brings both pleasure and pain to millions - and millions to a few.

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Humor

142 pages, Paperback

First published June 16, 2009

About the author

Peter Mayle was a British author famous for his series of books detailing life in Provence, France. He spent fifteen years in advertising before leaving the business in 1975 to write educational books, including a series on sex education for children and young people. In 1989, A Year in Provence was published and became an international bestseller. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages, and he was a contributing writer to magazines and newspapers. Indeed, his seventh book, A Year in Provence, chronicles a year in the life of a British expatriate who settled in the village of Ménerbes. His book A Good Year was the basis for the eponymous 2006 film directed by Ridley Scott and starring actor Russell Crowe. Peter Mayle died in Provence, France.

Reviews

[Sharif · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you work in marketing, public relations or advertising, you'll stop every few pages and wonder if Peter Mayle has been reading your e-mails.

It's a priceless primer on the ins-and-out of the advertising world.

A world of "the bland leading the bland" (account executives), "pigs with checkbooks" (bribe-seeking clients), "stocking the zoo" (the HR function) and why getting good ads made is so amazingly difficult but maybe just maybe still worth the effort.

[Jamie Christensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, easy read. Could be applied to many businesses. Amazing how relevant the info is even though it was written about advertising in the '70s and '80s.

[Barbara VA · Rating 4 out of 5]

We finally started binge watching Mad Men this winter and this book was just like watching the show. I have read everything by Mayle and loved it. This is no exception. The man is words!

[Filip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another funny book by the author, delving into the hermetic world of advertising. Written in a very amusing way, but I wish the author focused more on how advertising is created. Also, not sure how up to date this book is in the current reality, especially as the author himself noted that the market was changing.

[Oksana Bodnar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nie jest przelomowa przesmiewcza okej

[Michael Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

While he delivers a rather snarky view of the advertising world it is the voice of a real insider, though from a decade or two in the past, so I don't know how up to date his opinion is. But how can you not love Peter Mayle? His is the voice of leaving behind the workaday world to find peace and happiness in the countryside. When he was in it, he appeared to be really in it, but now he's telling tales out of school and what funny tales they are. A very enjoyable read that will make you consider following his lead to run away from it all and then talk about it from a distance.

[Des · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's okay. I'm not really sure why this book exists. It doesn't spill enough insider stuff to make it interesting to those not in advertising, and it's not funny enough to allow advertising insiders to laugh knowingly. In fact, there's an enormous difference between the degree of humor insinuated by the cover copy, and that present in the actual text.

[Raghu Venkatraman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this whenever I get nostalgic about my advertising days. Enough to cure my nostalgia. A bittersweet evocation of what Advertising is about. The perfect anti Ogilvy on Advertising...

[Rebecca Faith Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny, even though a bit outdated in it's references.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laugh-out-loud must read for anybody in the advertising business. Although the excessive expense account world portrayed has left us, many of the observations by Mayle remain spot-on. The book could have been the blueprint used by Matthew Weiner, the creator of Mad Men, a notion I reflected on repeatedly given it was published first in 1990. I especially had to chuckle at the bit about the client not-so-subtly pointing out a designer handbag she would love to own -- code for: buy that for me and bury it in the production budget. Yeah, that happened.

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nobody in my former book club liked it, but I thought it was interesting. I have academic (that is, very little practical!) experience with political campaigns, which are very similar to advertising campaigns, so I found this book quite entertaining!

[Creativemf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pithy, Worldly and most importantly -> British! Peter Mayle back steps to recover his fortuitously forgotten advertising roots and has his say! Good reading for any thinking man cum huckster (and any woman who won't mind my writing "man" here ...) x

[Maria Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Booooorrrrring. Maybe if I had been in the advertising industry, it would appeal to me. It seemed like Mr. Mayle was just using this format as an outlet for his resentment of the industry. Didn't like it. I couldn't finish it. Got through half of it and put it down.

[Kristin]

If you're actually in advertising, this book isn't terribly interesting. Spot-on, but not interesting.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious! Typical Mayle.

[Akhil Mehta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A funny fable about advertising, what's not to like?

[Angela Natividad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cynical and charming perspective on the ad industry from a man who lived through it, left without regrets, and still loves it, warts and all.

[Alaina Sloo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, sarcastic look at the life of advertising.

[Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

More good stuff from Peter Mayle

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Liked it. Nice, light reading. Mayle knows how to write a fun, charming story.

[Patrice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Funny stories about ad people.

[E · Rating 2 out of 5]

gave up 1/2 through - interesting but not a story line