Hilarious spoof shows Van Gogh and Frida Kahlo dealing with today's corporate honchos

A creative person who works in the advertising industry is no stranger to client feedback, no matter how unreasonable. But imagine artists like Vincent Van Gogh or Frida Kahlo having to go through focus groups and client feedback. Now, you might wonder why someone would draw such a parallel? The Association of Independent Commercial Producers, or AICP, has released a new ad film to call all creatives who can create "museum-worthy ads," urging them to participate in the contest. The winning work would join the film archive of MoMA or the Museum of Modern Art. 

The ad film is hilarious and relatable. It reminds the hopeful entrants, "It's hard to make museum-worthy art. It's harder to make museum-worthy ads." It was directed by O Positive’s Brian Billow, with creative concepts and consultation by BBDO, led by Chris Beresford-Hill, chief creative officer of the Americas. The film aims to attract the best of the industry along with giving creatives a much-needed push to put their best foot forward. The ad film also highlights the grueling process of getting creative approved, which sometimes leads to a watered-down final product.

The film starts with Van Gogh's agents telling him they had a great meeting with the clients. He asks if the clients bought the painting, to which the agents answer that they will. However, the clients want the concept of "Starry Night," Vincent Van Gogh's popular landscape painting, to be a little less dark." They want him to paint "A Sunny Day" instead. The artist is confused as to why he would paint a sunny picture for a painting titled "Starry Night." The agent further explained that he doesn't need to change the title as the clients love it. Funnily enough, they add that they want him to change the painting.

In the next frame, we see the artist Frida Kahlo. Her agents tell her that they have shown her "Self-portrait with monkey" to the clients. But, the clients find the forehead area "unrelatable." Her agents promised that they would push back on it.

Moving back, Van Gogh's agents tell him his painting has failed. The painter is surprised and asks, "How can a painting fail?" They also rope in the idea of an "influencer" to help Van Gogh's painting resonate with the younger audiences. The influencer, a priest called Father Anton, is also a creator himself, drawing a similarity with how influencers are roped in just for their popularity.

Frida Kahlo's agents meet her to tell her that the clients "Totally get what a self-portrait is." However, they wanted some little tweaks among which one sticking point was the monkey. They further advise her to replace the monkey with puppies as, "people trust puppies and it's proven." 

In the next frame, we see Van Gogh's agents telling him how they managed to get the painting approved but in a "vertical format." Van Gogh swears that if they released that painting, he would "cut off his goddamn ear," referring to the real-life incident. Thank God focus groups didn't exist in those days!