Doner Reviews

Doner, much like Sisyphus pushing his bolder up a hill, is on a mission to rebrand itself... again. The latest offering is, "Audacious Things for Ambitious Brands" can be reinterpreted as" Fraudacious Strategies for Unsuspecting Clients". Let's shift gears from arrogant mantras and stay with the theme of greek mythology to discuss Doner's biggest Achilles' heel, terrible strategies. This is and has always been their trademark crux that often leads to very long hours and many starts, stops and restarts for the creative department. It's a classic example of the righthand not knowing (or even caring) what the lefthand is doing. Spoiler alert, the righthand is patting itself on the back while the lefthand is shooting itself in the foot. The proof is a revolving client roster that comes and goes at such a dizzying pace it leads to the exhaustion Doner's employees. Some even exhibit signs of post traumatic stress disorder. Not... even... joking. Doner's CEO often lauds Doner's midwest heritage with an "Aw shucks" schtick that is quite convincing to new clients but it's no secret he desperately wants to be a New York agency. This must explain why he hired an ambitiously mediocre CCO from New York to run Doner's daily operation. This allows him the freedom to rarely be seen at Doner. And if you're into CCOs that give condescending feedback that is equal parts ambiguity to equal parts incoherence, than he's your fella. Let's not forget his dual creative legacy boasts Band-Aid's "Glambulance" and Smithfield's "Hambulance". Two different clients at two different agencies. Similar but different but very, very similar. Don't even get me started his advertising costumes and lil' flower accoutrements. Blerg!!! But let's not forget the culture. In an effort to improve low morale, Doner appointed a cultural czar that doesn't even live in Detroit and is rarely in the Southfield headquarters. Brilliant appointment. Other morale boosting efforts include agency stairwell meeting with the comedic stylings of the CEO and CCO. The true comedy comes when they mispronounce the names and titles of the employees they awkwardly attempt to praise. "Beep, bop... we are human just like you." Their attempts of being likable is as painful as an Emo Phillips comedy marathon. Did I mention that a big part of the management culture is stealing ideas from lower level employees and masquerading them as their own? Oh yeah, low wages, tons of overtime and the high probability of not being able to attend the shoot for an idea that is yours are pretty standard parts of the Doner culture. Did I mention tons of overtime?

Get ready for a long, but honest, review from a Doner Art Director. THE JOB If you’re thinking of becoming an Art Director here, expect to be overworked and underappreciated. Many lunches will be eaten at your desk because, on top of working nights and weekends, you’ll barely have time to breathe during your daily 8, 9, 10, 11+ hour Mon-Fri workweeks. I don’t know about other departments, but creative management is seriously disappointing. Projects that should have been assigned weeks before will often land on your desk, and they still want them ready by the next day’s due date. I was wary of joining Doner because of the agency’s horrific Glassdoor reviews, but took a chance on the position. Sadly, most were all pretty accurate. Morale is at an all-time low, as if it wasn’t already at rock bottom. If you’re truly creative, hang on to it! Because you won’t be using it here. You’ll quickly learn that any creative you come up with, that’s isn't mind-numbingly boring will be killed almost immediately. Doner’s mantra is “Audacious things for ambitious brands,” though they have neither of those things. The ONLY material we produce that doesn't make you want to claw your own eyeballs out, are the Chrysler campaigns featuring celebrity endorsements. Because, you know, celebs can make even sh*t not stink. On the rare occasion I’m assigned a project I’m actually excited about, my enthusiasm leaves as fast as it came. Thanks to lazy editors and too many cooks in the kitchen, the finished product is usually pretty sloppy. Especially when done in-house. With off-centered logos, forgotten page treatments, and poor transitions… I could do the job better myself, for a lot less money, and without it passing through a dozen people’s hands. Now let’s talk about the number of revisions Art Directors are expected to make. It’s not uncommon to have 15+ revisions BEFORE a draft even makes it to client. You’ll develop greater patience as you update decks again, and again, and again. Adding dates that the account team never provided, revising post dates that they had wrong, updating your partner’s copy, revising concepts, only to return to a previous version, and back again. Then the idea is killed anyway. To make matters worse, higher-ups allow the account team to act as if they are CDs. Even after my work has been approved, I’ve done rounds of revisions because account disapproved and “they know the client better than we do.” THE CULTURE As if the quality and quantity of work wasn’t bad enough, the management and culture are just as bad. How we got stuck with Eric, Doner’s new CCO, after Rob Strasberg left is beyond me. The guy is a hack, and huge tool who leads by intimidation. I can’t say I’ve heard a single co-worker say they actually like the guy. At a great agency, a great CCO should be personable. A leader. A mentor. With this guy, I’ll go out of my way to avoid an interaction. Doner also shows zero loyalty towards its long-time employees. They will suck the life out of you for as long as they can, then spit you right back out. Here, you are nothing more than a paycheck, and once it become too high, you’re gone. There are sizeable layoffs each year, where employees who’ve been with the agency for years, are kicked to the curb for cheaper juniors. While unexpecting juniors are kicked to the curb as collateral. Doner is currently facing a lawsuit for firing a CD that had been with the company for 9+. This was THREE days before her 60th birthday, the age at which they would have owed her a pension. A woman was sexually harassed by a CD, then shamed into deleting her own Glassdoor review about the ordeal. Nothing this agency does feels authentic. Every do-gooder stunt Doner pulls is nothing more than just that, a show. The Exit 3:2 walkout, supporting equal pay for between genders, was a joke. Doner may pay men and women equally for equal positions, but as others have said, it’s a Boys Club. There are very few women in roles of leadership, and men seem to be hired and receive promotions much more often than women. If Doner was as well-versed in advertising as they are in shady business practices, they may still be relevant.