Becoming a Beer Guy

Now granted it's only been a few weeks that I've been interning at an ad agency whose sole client is a foreign beer conglomerate, but I'm already starting to ponder the possibility that I've started on a path that so many in my earlier formative years of advertising suggested I avoid: Becoming a Beer Guy.

In advertising, a Beer Guy (or girl) is a creative whose entire career is banked on their ability to create witty, funny, effective, award-winning and/or absolutely amazing beer advertising. Usually, they end up working for clients like Bud Light (oops), Miller Lite, Coors Light, Corona, Heineken, or any number of major brands. They're so good at it, no one will hire them to do anything else. They won't be given opportunities to work on other clients. If they do, it's not often. And it's probably done early in their career. The only way they are promoted is if they are promoted to a higher position on the same account or are plucked from their current agency by another agency to work on a different beer account. My guess is, once they reach a certain point, the likelihood that they actually get to work for beer clients that brew quality beer is not very good, because most quality brewers don't have the revenue to hire the type of agencies that can afford to pay the successful beer-guy-creative. Thus, the beer-guy-creative spends most, if not all of his career, working on one type of client doing sophomoric, immature humor-style advertising (see link above).

I don't know how I feel about this. This could be the path I'm heading down. I do enjoy writing about beer (obviously). I do enjoy doing advertising for beer, especially when I have the freedom and latitude to use all aspects of my sense of humor and writing style. But could I honestly do this for my entire career, however long it might be? I have no idea. That answer seems to change on a daily basis. If you asked me yesterday, I would've said "sure." Today, I want more than anything to not be here. Even though I am drinking a beer (non-alcoholic; we're running low on water and the restroom on our floor is Out o' Order). It's not that I don't like the job. I just don't feel like being here today. Which leads me to the following question:

Do I even want a full-time, staff position?

I'm pretty sure I'd be much happier as a freelance copywriter (what I'm technically doing now). I just don't know if I have the credibility, work background, accomplishments, connections, etc., to do so at this point. It would also help if I had a design/art direction partner. But, I digress. Back to the original subject.

I don't have anything else to write about it. An awkward farewell.