Recently Buzzfeed did a post entitled “23 Signs You’ve Lived in New York City Too Long.” We thought that would be a good format to apply to the advertising world. Forget about all of the millennial newbies to advertising — although you probably dress like them — here is something for those who are more than familiar with the ins and outs of the ad world and have been there and done that.
Here are 38 signs that you’ve been in advertising for too long. Add any we forgot in the comments, or tweet them to @digiday.
1. You use the word bespoke and aren’t British.
2. You think you missed your calling as an art dealer.
3. You wear your scarf indoors.
4. You wear your wool hat indoors.
5. You started an artisanal condiment company.
6. You realize you work with too many Australians and South Africans.
7. You have a favorite corner spot at Gutter Bar.
8. You have amassed a prodigious sneaker collection.
9. You swear by the Dyson fan.
10. You think impactful is a word.
11. You’re mayor of an airport on Foursquare.
12. You have an “Every House” membership to the Soho House.
13. You complain that Cannes “isn’t as cool as it used to be.”
14. You spend more time with Keynote, Excel, Photoshop or Illustrator than your significant other.
15. You’ve run out of tattoo ideas.
16. You go to work cranky, stay cranky all day, come home cranky. (via @davidburn)
17. You spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about Instagram strategy.
18. You call your friends “rockstars.”
19. You have at least 15 “hate follows” on Twitter.
20. You have been to several Banksy exhibits.
21. You’ve thought to yourself “Sunday is the new Wednesday.”
22. You deejay in your spare time.
23. You created a Foursquare location for your home.
24. You actually enjoy the fact that Balthazar has a bathroom attendant.
25. You have “keep calm and carry on” paraphernalia.
26. When you get a brief which says “We want something like Angry Birds but with baked beans” and you go into a brain storm about it. (via @mutlu82)
27. You don’t see anything weird in “picking someone’s brain.”
28. You have posters of Einstein’s quotes in your office.
29. The word “imagination” is your turn-on.
30. You have a bottle of hard booze in your filing cabinet.
31. You tell your friends that they are off-brand.
32. You are an espresso connoisseur.
33. You go to the Ace Hotel lobby just to check Facebook.
34. You’ve started playing competitive ping pong.
35. You pay $200 for t-shirts.
36. You’re seriously considering commuting to work via long board — if you don’t already.
37. You fly business class in order to go to Burning Man.
38. You know more about your creative partner than your life partner.
Image via Shutterstock
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