Indonesian copywriter Mita Diran dies: Mixture of long hours and excessive energy drinks blamed
The Indonesian advertising industry has been stunned with the news that Y&R Indonesia copywriter Mita Diran has died after working more than 30 hours straight. Overwork has been blamed for her death along with drinking too much of a strong local energy drink called Kratingdaeng.
Two days ago Diran tweeted “30 hours of working and still going strooong.”
Venus Buzz quotes her father, Yani Sharizal, saying that his daughter was in a coma after working continuously for three days, and that she had been working over her limits. She died shortly after.
Here is Y&R Indonesia’s statement that they posted on their Facebook page:
Dear friends and colleagues in the advertising and marketing community,
It is with a heavy heart and deep sadness that we have to inform you we have lost our friend, sister, and work colleague, Mita Diran, earlier this evening. Mita was a talented copywriter with a gentle smile who will always live on in our hearts.
We have been to Mita’s family residence tonight and expressed our sincere condolences on behalf of Y&R Group Indonesia. It is a great loss and we wish Mita’s family the faith and strength in each other in going through this extremely difficult time.
Tomorrow, December 16, we will close the office for the day to pay our last respects to Mita at her funeral at Jeruk Purut cemetery at 10 AM. Let us all take a day of silence tomorrow and give Mita’s family the support and prayers that they need, from the bottom of our hearts.
Sincerely, Y&R Group Indonesia
The industry’s thoughts and prayers are with Mita’s family and friends.
86 Comments
Never consider for a second that what we do is important.
So much for the adage “Hard work never killed anyone.”
With complete respect and condolences to Mita’s family, perhaps this could spark some debate around how agencies are currently operating, the way they resource and the expectations they place on employees.
Dying for advertising. Really, we need to take a good, hard look at things.
Mr Sharizal, please, sue them. Sue their sorry asses for all they’re worth.
NOW they close.
Very sad. This industry needs to take a good hard look at itself. I’ve never worked at an agency that has been adequately staffed. Long hours and weekends are no longer the exception, they are the norm.
Can this culture of over working to prove something just fucking stop. RIP
Just terrible news and it’s not the first time.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2325364/Advertising-man-Li-Yuan-24-dies-heart-attack-brought-overwork.html
Our industry needs to have a good look at itself. Working late is just expected and normal. It’s the responsibility of CEO’s and CD’s to put a stop to this before it happens again. I bet if their employees got paid overtime they would.
R.I.P Mita.
Deep respect and condolences to the family and friends of hers.
How many times have we worked a similar amount of hours, or more than several weeks straight at sixteen plus hours a day without a break? In my early twenties I remember pulling a 72 hour stint, the energy drinks were a white powder with no liquid.
For what? Profit? For someone else? It’s not just killing the golden geese, it’s slavery.
Our families and friends outside of advertising don’t understand why we miss Christmases, birthdays and anniversaries. And that also demeans people’s lives too, sometimes, on our shores, to the point of death or massive burnout.
Any agency head reading this should take note. Happy cows not only produce better milk, they make far superior milk to dead cows.
So sad, yet unfortunately until someone steps in, this looks like the expected rather than the exception for years to come.
My heart goes out to the family.
But this is a disgrace………my question is: what was the CD doing? What was the ECD doing? No doubt flogging their creatives for the sake of awards.
WAKE UP ADVERTISING WAKE UP!!!!!!!
I want to know why the FUCK the CD allowed this to happen??????
Please don’t delete this link as it says it, really.
http://www.mangareader.net/374-25625-19/hadashi-de-bara-wo-fume/chapter-1.html
My girlfriend worked herself to the point she started getting dizzy and sick. Not wanting to appear to be weak, she kept going. Now I care for her. She has cancer, stress induced, at the ripe old age of 27. Stress kills. Overwork kills. For anyone who is being whipped to the point of feeling slightly crazy, stand up for yourself. Say no. Fuck traffic managers, fuck your cd, fuck that idiot suit. It’s not worth it.
Work done under those conditions will never help your career. If you can’t work or function as a human being, you have no career. And the bastards will steal the credit for everything you do anyway.
Go home on time, switch the phone off and be human. Because you’ll have far less time to do that if you don’t.
There’s never a good time in this industry to look after yourself.
So just do it.
Take that holiday you’re owed (you know, from your 47 day stockpile).
Take that day they said they’d give you for working two weekends straight.
Chuck that sickie (especially if you’re feeling sick).
Bugger off early if you’re twiddling your thumbs waiting for your CD to walk out first.
Drop your kid at school in the morning before work and roll in at 9.30am.
We work too hard.
Life’s too short.
My thoughts go out to the family of this poor girl.
As sad as this is, even sadder is how many people reading this could count on two hands the amount of times they’ve had to work 30 hours straight or more in the last four years.
Given this precedent, holding people back beyond their will shouldn’t be a bad thing, or a weekly necessity, or even an ‘inconvenience for all concerned.’
The precedent sets this at attempted murder and nothing less.
Sorry I attached the incorrect link.
This is the correct one:
http://mumbrella.com.au/ums-mat-baxter-calls-industry-stop-apologising-long-hours-191256
I’m a creative at one of the Y&R offices and my “normal” working hours are between 12-16 hours a day including weekends. As everybody is saying, we work that hard for NOTHING. We work that hard just to make the rich people richer. We are not changing the world here!!!… I hope this is a wake up call for all of us to stop letting the industry and the fear to loose our jobs, treating us like we were machines.
Just think about this: while we are working 16 hours a day loosing our real live inside an office, the VP’s, CEOs, CFOs, CCOs, etc are enjoying their lives and their families with all the luxury. And we are working twice as hard, and earning 10% or less of their salaries.
That’s so sad. Her poor family.
And it’s so hard to say no when you’re living in the agency culture. Even if you finally have a quiet day, you feel guilty for walking out the door while others are still slaving away.
I finally had enough of it about 6 months ago. I left the industry after 17 years to work client side and the cultural difference is amazing. Work/life balance is a priority here and most people leave at 5pm.
If you’re reading the article above and feeling it could so easily be you, consider getting out while you still can. There are creative jobs on the other side of the fence that don’t come with the pressure to win awards and ignore family and friends for the sake of some ads.
A sad and utterly needless loss of life, indicative of a cultural problem present and perpetuated by agencies and the industry rags.
It’s precisely this problem that drove me to start freelancing earlier in the year. Yes, I’m still in the industry – but the freedom and autonomy (and the ability to charge for weekend work) that came with that decision was immediate and enormously liberating. Never again will I allow illogical and antiquated workplace expectations take priority over my own health and relationships outside the microcosm of agency life.
Will that kill my chances of winning awards? Probably. But the older I get, the less I give a fuck. It’s time we asked ourselves how much the approval of our peers is actually worth in the end. It’s not like they’re going to list off your award wins in your eulogy – and if they do, what a fucking joke.
If you read the article you’ll see her father is an ECD at another agency. I doubt her family ever thought the hours were too much until now.
Young staff working 3 days in a row non-stop is a growing issue in Asia. It is not here. Please don’t consider that you once working overnight is anything the same as a culture that will reward and recognise you for literally working yourself to death.
We have it pretty good. Let’s remember that, and keep it that way.
No. We don’t have it pretty good. The above comments prove that. Are we as bad as some parts of Asia? Probably not. But we’re a far fucking cry off pretty good.
The reality is that our jobs are pretty awesome (to us) thus it’s a competitive industry. Everyone has choices. I’ve never worked 3 days straight.
It’s an unfortunate incident.
Well said ‘Done with that’
I think people should stop facebooking status updates like, “still at the office, 1am. Where’s the pizza?” almost as if to wear this as a badge of honour, or even brag. it perpetuates and encourages competitive ‘busy work’.
I worked in adland for 3 years. I always left before my boss. 9-5 job now and i’m waaay less stressed, and I do my own creative stuff on the side, without some dumb logo on it.
The industry purports to be creative and innovative the reality is the opposite. Far more conservative and corporate industries have better work cultures with more respect for the individual and their families.
This stupid culture of everyone pretending we’re so lucky to come up with an idea is a sham. We do a job – it isn’t the best job – it isn’t the worst job.
We are our own worst enemy. Until we stand up for our selves it will continue to be this way. But it’s pretty hard to do that when you’ve got a mortgage and a family and one income… and they know that.
My sincere condolences to the family. A tragedy.
We’re no longer protected.
In the 80’s what we did was revered. We were paid just as much as Lawyers and the bankers. Time lines were lengthy.
30 years later, Freelancers are being paid less than what they were 10-15 years ago.
So to the CEO’s and the CFO’s, I ask this; What are you weak bastards doing? Advertising CFO’s are now the highest paid in the world. How? Why? They’ve done a terrible job of making sure we’re remunerated for what the industry is worth. Ideas that make corporations Billions of Dollars in profit. Ideas that are just given away. Furthermore they’re busy undercutting each other. Are you guys fucking morons?
Where’s the money? Where’s our money? The pay is woeful these days, the deadlines non existent and our lives, relationships and families lives are suffering. For what? So we can make some super rich dudes even richer? The top 1%? CEO’s with their shares and bonus schemes?
We have become slaves. If you keep treating us like this, keep making us work to the point of needing energy drinks to stay awake to deliver a god damn ad, then maybe we do need to stand up and protect the people that work in this industry.
2 deaths in just over a year. And lets not forget the Suicides.
I never thought I’d see the day that I’d suggest this, but maybe it’s time to Unionise.
Work it out.
I know a very rich stalwart CD who once said that he secretly wished he had made the time to watch his kids grow. He said that while we were working during a weekend. Again. I also know another CD, a lower-echelon one, who to this day “puts in the hours” because that’s what makes you a winner. However, while all that effort still doesn’t win him awards it does win him newly minted enemies every time he hires someone new.
There is something very wrong with the way people think they have to work in this industry and the expectations and exploitative view they have of staff, especially the younger ones.
If you couple the dehumanisation, demoralisation and destabilising work environments and client relationships with the long hours, it’s a recipe for an early grave or insanity.
If you’ve ever thought of getting out, do it now.
This industry won’t get any better, it never will. Not while foreign CFOs run it, not while any business owner runs it. Profit is only made through overtime. Everyone knows that’s where the margins are.
Sooner you realise that the better.
This blog gets a lot of flack for bitchiness. Here are some very measured, reasoned thoughts from obviously very smart people. I think this debate is one we need to have.
Reading this story and the comments that accompany it makes me second guess my new career path… I’m about to start at the bottom in a large agency.. what hope is there?
One has to question the revenue model of advertising agencies??? What sort of businesses can only make money from exploitation?
These hours are common in Australia too and employee’s just don’t speak out. Why do agencies see themselves exempt from the law? Most agencies proudly continue in sweat shop practices. It’s against the law people!!! “the client has not got the budget” does not hold up so well in court.
All the little soldiers at Award and every communication course in the country need to be aware of their rights and employment law in this country.
AGENCIES MAKE THE SALARIES FROM TOP TO BOTTOM MORE EQUITABLE AND EMPLOY MORE WORKERS!!!! IT AINT THAT HARD.
You’ve nailed it.
Always thought this was a problem. Why are people bragging about working long hours to make other people rich?
I can’t wait to get out of this industry. I think it’s the only way I’ll actually be creative again!
We’d go under if we actually had to pay people for the amount of time they worked.
Condolence to Mita Diran’s family. Before we sling mud in all directions let’s respect the fact that this young woman died tragically.
What can her senseless death teach us?
The answer is simple. Work life balance. Family comes first. Job second.
As the first post said…it’s only advertising. It’s only a job. We all have to learn to say no or enough is enough. If the consequences of saying “I will not work these unreasonable hours” and we get fired, then so be it.
Countries in the region need to impose MORE LABOUR LEGISLATION that governs what is a “working day” is. If it is 8 hrs, then the employee should be paid overtime at double hourly rate after the 8 hrs. Watch how quickly clients and agencies will stop demanding unreasonable working hours.
Please just stop this insanity.
True. Maybe it’s to do with inadequate management.
Did I just say that. Shit. Must be the 24 hr shift I’ve just finished.
The other thing that makes me scratch my head, are the cliche status updates from ad folk that begin with, “Typical day at the office”, accompanied by glamorouson location shoot, or man in costume dressed as yeti, right out of a shoot.
These updates seem glamorous to most, but its all sueface: they remind me of the stress, backstabbing, over work, and bull razzle dazzle that people get sucked in by.
well said stress free and everyone else who’s feeling the same. The advertising industry will continue to struggle and will continue to press harder on its people because there’s less and less money to be made in the current operating business models. True creativity will spring forth from outside agencies until agencies learn to treat employees with value.
In the last 12 months half a dozen people I know in the industry have burnt out or been stressed out badly. Not just regular ‘I’m freakin’ busy’ stress, serious medical problems. In account service, creative and management, in a variety of agencies. It’s not hard to see why.
Technology is speeding things up. Clients expect things faster and bigger. 10-15 years ago you’d get two weeks, maybe a month to present a campaign or sometimes a single ad. Sheer luxury. Most campaigns now require digital, social, PR, mobile, activation as well as all the traditional media. In half the time. A brand campaign in a week. Why not? Three new ideas over the weekend. Sure.
This pressure is coming from all directions. There are more award shows and more categories to enter. In 2004 there were 6 categories at Cannes. Now there’s 16. Ten years ago effectiveness awards barely existed. Neither did case studies; you submitted an ad, or board at most. Nowadays, more effort often goes into the case study than the campaign, which has to be done on top of the normal workload.
And then there’s the pitches.
Not to mention the procurement departments squeezing agencies tight, demanding more for less and forcing everyone to run lean. That means less resources, less money and less time.
Yet everyone’s expectations remain the same.
Clients want the same results. Agencies want the same revenue. Creative Directors want the same awards. If not more. Is it realistic? Is it possible to sustain? I don’t think so. If I’m seeing this many incidents it seems like others are too. So I want to know: is the industry burning itself out?
Terrible story.
Sadly, it’s not just the advertising industry:
http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2013/08/20/bank-of-america-intern-died-after-pulling-three-all-nighters-re/
A similar story unfolded in the investment banking world not that long ago. Another young person ,desperate to impress, put their ambition ahead of their own health and there was no-one there to step in and say, this is just idiotic.’
Duty of care, anyone?
One last thing: from now on, if i start at 9am, and the first 5 minutes of the day feels like 8 hours, ill leave at 9.05am and charge for for the whole day on ‘perceived time’. You dont want me charging for an eternity.
Duty of care… exactly.
I’ve also noticed most of the people I started with in this game 10 years ago either have mental problems, have left the industry, or both.
I don’t know anyone personally who is enjoying it.
Yet there seems to be a certain “creative type” that loves the long hours and brags about the hours and the ad lifestyle on Facebook constantly. These are also usually the types that brown nose the CDs and ECD.
I stay well clear of these people.
Ever wondered why more awards are (generally) won from Melbourne?
People seem more human there. The pace is a bit slower. The clients are a little more respectful.
I’ve noticed a massive change in Sydney since all the freaked out, stress inducing economic refugees have escaped Europe to our shores. Some even ex-pats returning, both agency and client side.
They don’t get the Aussie way of life, our ability to both communicate and work slower, but with far more considered approaches. Spend a year or two in Melbourne to understand what I mean. The Aussie approach (not necessarily people) works wonders and the agencies that adopt it are killing it on a global scale.
Anyone who says ‘s/he chose to work those hours’ is seriously kidding themselves.
There’s an ECD I know at another agency that calls staff at 6 in the morning, 11 at night weekdays, weekends, holidays, birthdays, funerals, you name it and next thing, you’re working past midnight.
If you refuse something or say you’re busy delivering your wife’s baby you’re off any good brief and eventually fired. Firings happen randomly to anyone who seems to be ‘taking it easy’, regardless of the standards of their work.
The cost? Over 7 people have claimed stress leave within the last 3 years and many, many others have left to take a permanent holiday after working under him, including the HR manager.
It’s not worth it kids. Seriously.
I think it’s about time we have some sort of union to protect us from this toxic culture.
Get CEO’s / ECD’s to pay employees overtime and this shit will stop within 2 days. Guaranteed!
Charles Bukowski:
SPARK
I always resented all the years, the hours, the
minutes I gave them as a working stiff, it
actually hurt my head, my insides, it made me
dizzy and a bit crazy — I couldn’t understand the
murdering of my years
yet my fellow workers gave no signs of
agony, many of them even seemed satisfied, and
seeing them that way drove me almost as crazy as
the dull and senseless work.
the workers submitted.
the work pounded them to nothingness, they were
scooped-out and thrown away.
I resented each minute, every minute as it was
mutilated
and nothing relieved the monotonous ever-
structure.
I considered suicide.
I drank away my few leisure hours.
I worked for decades.
I lived with the worst of women, they killed what
the job failed to kill.
I knew that I was dying.
something in me said, go ahead, die, sleep, become
them, accept.
then something else in me said, no, save the tiniest
bit.
it needn’t be much, just a spark.
a spark can set a whole forest on
fire.
just a spark.
save it.
I think I did.
I’m glad I did.
what a lucky god damned
thing.
The ad game is not overly creative once your talentless CD or client fucks your idea square in the arse.
It’s not prestigious or cool. And no, it’s not cutting edge. It does not pay as well as most trades do. So wake up!
Employers are applying work pressure on staff based on what the industry was: not what it is today.
Think about it people – every hour you work overtime is working for FREE. No one with a brain, let a lone a creative one, does that.
Don’t be weak. Don’t be blind. Don’t buy into this way of working. If you’re any good, you can get your ideas across within a normal work day, give or take an hour or two. it’s the hacks who have to replace great ideas with endless hours.
I really feel for this poor girl who was lead to believe that what she was doing was a smart way to prove yourself in the industry. To every abusive organisation, hang your fucking head in shame! And to think, most agencies boast about how important ‘their people’ are. FUCK YOU!
Any company that makes people work that hard should be closed down. If I was the family, I would sue for every cent. Shame on you Y&R.
Ask your CEO, ECD or CD to work 40 hours straight and see if they do?
Go on, I dare you. If they do, then support them, because they are the real deal.
if they don’t: walk away. Their life is not more important than yours.
Ask them to work the same hours as the 40K a year junior in the studio who’s putting the presentation document together until 4:00am. You know, the one with changes that came in over the weekend from the CD or Planner, or MD who was sitting on their talentless arse at the ‘beach house’ on sunday evening and never read it right the first time – a week ago! They are too full of their own self importance to even consider your efforts or situation.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with hard work.
It builds character. It’s satisfying. Good things come from it.
Creatives in any field get exited and passionate about projects and commit the hours to make stuff great. That’s normal. But never let that trait be abused.
Working on crap, for dickheads, for extended hours is dumb!
Walk out.
Hold your head high.
Don’t take shit.
They need you, more than you need them.
And that, my friends, is the truth.
We hear so much these days said about bravery in creative work:
but you must be brave in all that you do.
So be brave – and say ‘no’ to dickheads when they demand more than is fair.
Who was her CD and/or ECD.
They must be somewhat responsible the expectations placed on her.
What are their names?
I encourage anyone to name those who you believe abuse your personal time and health for the sake of the job.
My understanding is that quite a few creatives have walked away from jobs due to excessive and continual demands to work into their personal time.
This is truly a dumb way to work, to live and to die.
I’m done with this so called “creative” industry. It’s a total sham and I’m so happy that people are finally speaking out against it.
I’d much rather pack boxes 9 – 5 and actually do something creative in my spare time.
See ya advertising!
Lot of hate for CD’s here. How do we know the CD didn’t tell her to piss off home at the end of the first day, but she kept working because she couldn’t crack a brief and felt maybe her job was under threat because she wasn’t cracking any lately?
I would of told her to go home – but she obviously had the tenacity to keep going – kudos to her. She seemed pretty happy by the tone of her tweet.
30 hours really isn’t that long anyway – ask any uni student student pre exam.
The salaries are very big boys and girls.
The hypocrisy here is thick.
This is an ad blog who’s commenters criticize, berate, demean, and outright embarrass creatives and shit all over their work.
And then the same contributors to this blog come on here and talk about “how it’s not worth it.”
Pathetic hypocrisy.
Next time you’re gleefully spewing hate from your cubicle, just know that you are one of the worst parts of the problem.
working yourself to death in an ad agency…
Who is the boss there? It would be interesting to see how fast this guy stands up. But there needs to be some responsibility taken. ECD kindly stand up.
After watching 2 women have miscarriages and 1 man sent to hospital with a nervous breakdown at 28 at my last agency and feeling myself like i was on the brink myself, not sleeping, having panic attacks and blackouts i scared myself into taking a few years break and its taken that long to get back to some kind of emotional normal…this industry is dangerous it makes more money preying on you being anxiety ridden because thats how they get us working longer and harder, pushing our minds until they are useless. Something needs to be done absolutely. maybe it would make more sense if we were paid like bankers it certainly would make the recovery more satisfying.
A few years ago this industry was swallowing me whole, every last bit of me. I was sucked in completely. On top of the insane hours and drive to be the most awarded whatever in the world, there was the partying, which felt compulsory. I will tell you this, it is not compulsory and neither should be the hours.
It got so bad that my marriage started to suffer and so did my health. So I saw a shrink. Yes, a shrink. What I learned was this, when you say “no” for whatever reason it may be, all of your worst fears do NOT come true. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. In most cases you become more respected and more desired, because you have boundaries and there is a limited supply of you. And if this can be managed you start to do better and more rewarding work, because you are happy. If it doesn’t work, then like everyone on here is saying, you need to walk away. If your company does not respect your need for emotional and physical wellness, you shouldn’t give them any of yourself. Break the cycle. They don’t deserve an second of your ‘billable hours’.
I love the idea of unions and new rules around workplace hours but that will take time. In the meantime, we should pay this young woman and her family a bit of respect by learning to say “no”. May her sad passing help the rest of us in creating a better future in this crazy business.
#JusticeForMita
I work at a very large Sydney agency and all I see is juniors spending their life in the office ripping off old ads and thinking they’re very clever in a quest to impress middle aged CDs with broken lives (and their Facebook freinds).
I’m inbetween these stages. I no longer care for thinking that I’m cool to be doing ads, and I’m trying to get out before I become one of the broken, middle aged divorcees with no money, hope or happiness.
It’s a cruel industry that doesn’t actually reward real creativity.
And I have no idea why we put up with it. I mean, we all seem rather smart, right?
My goodness, what an outpouring of self-righteous drivel.
Mind you, that’s easy for me to say – I got out years ago.
Now, off to the beach.
Any overtime, deemed excessive or unreasonable, is illegal. And you define what is excessive or unreasonable. A double shift with thirty minutes notice? Unreasonable. They can’t sack you, they can’t sue you. Saying no might just force them to say no to the clients / endless checking in. They might start to get organised for a change, something we haven’t seen since all the young ECD’s started running the joint.
When I am sent yet another email from the bosses along the lines of ‘Win more awards. Don’t go home ’til you win more awards! Why aren’t you winning more awards? Win more awards or you’ll be sacked!’, I try and remind myself of a conversation I had a few years back that went like this….
Me: Dad, I’m going to an award show on Friday night.
Dad: Awards for what?
Me: Advertising dad.
Dad: Haaaa haaaa haaa. They give out awards for ads????!!! Bullshit!
Me: Yeah. Ummm actually they do…
Dad: Are the for who sells the most?
Me: No, not really…..
Dad: Oh. Ha ha haaa haaaaaa
Advertising awards are a joke.
Unless you own an agency, then they’re these magical cheap little things that make creatives work for free!
I work in an agency where somebody smart woke up and said “no” to the monster like traffic lady demanding people worked all night (yet she clocked off at 5:30 every day), “no” to the ECD who doesn’t know how to communicate with humans and “no” to the brown noser lifestyle of the agency and left.
He is still ridiculed and bagged every day for not being able to “handle it”.
http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/after-30-hours-of-work-mita-diran-collapsed-and-died/story-e6frfm9r-1226786409814
As someone looking at going into this industry this is making me quite depressed.
Y&R’s website still has a section proudly proclaiming People First.
They just don’t get!
Quit selling.
No one’s buying.
How much quality the work can be after 30 hours of work? dumb.
So how do we go about starting a Advertising Union? It’s about time WE have some protection. Getting CEO’s and ECD’s to pay us over-time is the only sure way to stop this. 100% Guaranteed!
Don’t get me wrong, I actually really, really enjoy my job. I just hate the stupid hours that are somehow expected. I’m sick of feeling guilty when on the rare occasion I leave at 5:30pm to attend family matters. 5:30pm(!) that’s normal hours for most!
People’s lives, mental health and families are at risk. We need to stop this shit!
In 2001 I was on my way to a meeting with my then 10 year-old son’s school teacher at 5.00pm when my CD rang, opening with the quip “Having a half day?!!”.
Malcolm, you know who you are.
Its now on SMH for Sydney to see……
http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/after-30-hours-of-work-mita-diran-collapsed-and-died/story-e6frfm9r-1226786409814
Y&R exposed on News.com.au
http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/after-30-hours-of-work-mita-diran-collapsed-and-died/story-e6frfm9r-1226786409814
@Advertising Union?
I reckon that’s a great idea. It would be nice if a respected, retired adland person started one.
This is awful news. RIP Mita. My heart goes out to your family.
Put Family First before everything else.
Take that holiday you are owed.
Down the tools at 530. It can wait until tomorrow.
Stop following the heard of sheep who want to stay back to impress. It’s not worth it.
Get up and walk around every 20 minutes.
Optional stand up desks should be the norm.
Sitting is the new cancer. Look into it.
We don’t move enough.
The industry is flawed and getting worse.
Take a good look at your life and how many hours you do in advertising and justify somehow that it is more important than..
• A snuggle on the couch with your loved one
• Bathing your child before bed
• Meeting an old friend for dinner
• Going for a run or a game of squash
How many stupid hours are you doing for no reason at all but he illusion you are gaining? Hard work doesn’t mean long hours, it means a productive 7.5 hours.
To be valued and appreciated doesn’t mean long hours. When you are sick, the work gets done, the machine stays well oiled, deadlines are met regardless.
Evaluate your adverting role and change your crazy noodle soup at 10pm habits. The more people that put family and friends first, the better.
We should all get paid overtime and when we do, we will be told to go home at 5.
FACT.
I know this is just a blog, but will the real journalists please stand up.
With 70+ comments and a real sentiment of anger/apathy depending on your position, it would be great if the press that represents us actually editorialised and not just reported.
If you wanted a juicy angle that looked at the industry beyond what hit the telly on Sunday, here it is.
Just a thought.
And yeah, I doubt this will be published either.
Dunno how we start a union but we can definitely pull off a strike. Imagine that. No ads until we get overtime. Clients would crack it. They’d have to act.
@Fuck Da Police
I agree completely, when you find someone sign me up!
Family:
“Down the tools at 5:30” is an entirely different attitude and position from working 30 hours straight. You go ahead and down the tools and don’t for a second feel bad when your career is stalled. Passion for this industry isn’t 9 to 5, and no of course it’s not 30 hours in a row either, but your 9 to 5 attitude will give you a 9 to 5 career. So don’t blame your ECD or your agency when it does.
I’d also like to hear from some CEO’s and ECD’s on this matter.
What’s their solution?
A crappy gift certificate and a mention in the all staff meetings just doesn’t cut it anymore.
Grow up. Loads of these comments are an embarrassment to creatives all spurring off a very sad event.
@Fuck Da Police: Makes sense, but why get some veteran who will want to get paid do fuck all and prolong the process until if finally collapses because they didn’t have the backing from people who are already abusing the system. Simply get a bunch of people who hate the industry based on their many wrongful firings in the past or similar and let them loose. Also, good comments on overtime clocking on/off systems. Makes complete sense. DO IT!
I can only speak as a sample of one.
Firstly, if you’ve ever worked in certain Asian markets you would understand that while agencyland in Australia is in a difficult space, and demands a lot from all of us, it’s nothing compared to some of the practices that go on in markets such as Indonesia.
Which is not to say plenty of people above don’t have valid points, but spend a couple of weeks in a SEA agency and see what a sweatshop really looks like. A little perspective never goes astray.
Secondly, judging from some of the comments, quite a few of you have terrible bosses. If you truly believe that your ECD is a lazy hack who pisses off at 6pm to his beach house and leaves you to slave away for little to no reward, I sympathise. And for fuck’s sake QUIT!! Maybe not right before xmas, but asap. Work for someone you respect.
Thirdly, there is no doubt that most of our current problems stem from the fact that agencies operate on some of the skinniest margins of any professional services industry in the world. As an industry, we have allowed this to happen over many years, and we’re all paying the price.
We are all overworked, not because there’s this huge pot of gold that we siphon off to global HQ or the ECD’s beach houses… but because as agencies we don’t get paid anywhere near enough for what we’re expected to do.
(And yes, as an ECD I get paid pretty well, but maybe not as much as you’d think. But I spent 20 years working towards this, and I make money for my agency. I don’t apologise for what I earn)
And finally, we are our own worst enemies. Agencies are staffed, and usually run, by perfectionists. We push ourselves hard, and have created a culture where the job is never done. What you do, you can always do better.
Personally, I thrive in such a culture, but also understand that others don’t. The reality is, that if you don’t get satisfaction out of working in a high-performance environment where you remain more than a little obsessed about your work 24/7, advertising isn’t really for you.
How do we change this? It’s simple: we need to charge properly for what we do. Not just fatten retainers, but make clients pay for the 13th and 14th and 15th change to the work. Not pitching for free like cheap whores would help, but in such a competitive industry I doubt that’s going to happen.
If we charge properly, we can staff properly. And then, no-one will need to work themselves into the ground just to get through the standard workload. Working crazy hours should be reserved for special times, and for creative opportunities.
There’s nothing wrong with working insane hours if you genuinely are getting something out of it… if you’re in the midst of making something great. Because, let’s face it, no-one ever did anything great without a fuckload of effort and angst and sweat and tears.
But people working themselves into the ground just to survive the week is totally wrong and completely unsustainable.
I’m glad this discussion is happening, but it really needs to be happening at a senior management level, and at a network level as well. I know in our agency, our senior management team is talking a lot about this right now (not that we hadn’t previously) as we’ve never wanted to work our people to breaking point, ever. But it’s bloody hard to avoid putting your staff through hell sometimes, when the entire agency/client construct makes it unavoidable a fair amount of the time.
One final thing: don’t use energy drinks like poor Mita did. I reckon more people die from that shit than ever do from sitting at a desk too long.
Have a good Chrissy everyone.
You’re wrong. It’s exactly this kind of event that spurs action. You see it happen all over the world. I get the sense you have something to lose. Perhaps you’re worried something will actually happen.
When are we all going to say NO to making freakin’ award videos? Jesus H Christ so much time/money/effort goes into these bullshit things. Whatever happened to sticking some pics on a board with an explanation?! Fuck me, its just an added, time wasting exercise that is totally unnecessary.
What is acceptable working hours under ordinary and extraordinary situations (like a pitch) according to agency heads? Did the CEO of the agency pressure the ECD and the creative department to deliver the work at all cost? When Mita Diran worked beyond acceptable working hours did anyone from the agency asked her to stop? Did they care that Mita Diran was working beyond acceptable working hours? Did anyone responsible for the welfare of Mita Diran noticed that she was drinking excessive amounts of Red Bull? Did these people know then excessive consumption of Red Bull is bad for health? If yes, did they stop her? Did Mita Diran drink so much Red Bull because she was simply thirsty? Or did she drank that much because her body was screaming for sleep but she had to stay awake to finish the work no matter what? What was Mita Diran working on at that time that forced her to drink so much Red Bull? Are the agency heads responsible for taking care of Mita Diran now digging up her health history to comfort themselves that it was Mita Diran who should know better? Will agency heads listen to their creative people when they cry out for help? What are agency heads going to do to improve working conditions?