The Pitch

I finally sat down and watched an episode of The Pitch over the weekend.  I've been hearing about it for months and been getting reactions from people over the last few weeks ... so I've been anxious to see an episode.

I should say upfront that I had very low expectations - I just can't imagine that watching agencies develop client presentations could be compelling television.  I do it every day and love it to death, but how could it possibly make for a tv show?  But my friend Paul Capelli from The Ad Store is one of the featured agencies, so I was also curious to see him in action as well.

As much as it was fun to see my friend Paul, I have to say that I'm not a big fan of the show and quite honestly I didn't expect to be.  I'm not sure that seeing the inner workings of agency life is especially interesting and my hunch was right that the show wouldn't be a hit for me.

Now I am actually a big fan of reality television - the Real Housewives franchise, the singing shows, cooking competitions - all of them are fabulous in my book.  But The Pitch just doesn't quite do it for me (sorry!).  I guess I'm too close to it and it feels just a little too real, I don't know, but I just didn't find it very entertaining.  The drama wasn't dramatic enough and the ending not satisfying enough.

I also have to say that I'm kind of bummed that my friend Paul didn't "win" because his "Trash Can" campaign for Waste Management was brilliant.

So for me, the show doesn't work ... but I'd love to hear what you all think.  What's your experience?  Jim.

Jim Joseph
President, Cohn & Wolfe North America
Author, The Experience Effect series
Professor, NYU