No wonder I drink at lunch

Last week, when I took a few days off, my boss had to handle one of my presentations. It was not a big deal at all. Since we were presenting web banners, which have a very easy-to-understand format, he was able to do it over the phone, saving him a trip downstate to the clients' offices.

Of the six concepts that were presented, four were his and two were mine. At the end of the presentation, our client asked what the agency recommendation was. This is de riguer and I hate it. I mean it when I tell her, "We would never waste your time with creative concepts we don't stand behind," and then I once again topline the benefits of each idea.

My boss, on the other hand, had a clear favorite. One of his. On the call, our client agreed with him enthusiastically but said she had to show the concepts to her boss before she could give us her final choice.

On Friday, she let her know that her boss had overruled her and they were going with one of mine.

My boss was shocked and appalled. You would think they had accused his mother of being a hooker in France during the war. Oh, for Christ's sake, it's a web banner. It will appear on their site for 30 days and poof! It's gone forever.

And, as I was impolitic to point out, we presented it. If, as an agency, we didn't think it was a good concept, we shouldn't have shown it to the client.

That was Friday. On Monday, we had to start on the next month's banners. I showed my boss one that was a logical follow up to the one the client choice so we could leverage the visual and content. He killed it right away. This was just plain petty. If the client had chosen one of "his" ideas (and I consider them all "our" ideas), I would have suggested a continuation of that one, too.

"Let's retire that," he said, taking a bite of his sandwich. RETIRE IT? The original idea hasn't even been seen by the public yet! He has no idea if it will be a success or not, and we're already retiring it?

It almost amuses me that he's so emotionally invested in this. These web banners are ancillary to The Big Project, and while it's high profile, it's kinda boring and my boss has been very willing to let me virtually run it since it kicked off in April. He only got involved with these web banners because I'm finally taking my vacation and he got in front of the client in my stead.

And here's the kicker: Wednesday morning, the client is having a big hush-hush meeting. The title is, "Go/No Go." Meaning that The Big Project -- the thing I've been working on since April, the one I found myself discussing from the courthouse while I was on jury duty, the one I concentrated on instead of finishing my bathroom redecoration or celebrating the Cubs' victory against Pittsburgh -- may be postponed or cancelled.

So the fucking banner that my boss hates so much may never be created. Of course, this also means that the 16-page booklet, six-panel brochure, series of six letters, emails, and multi-piece welcome kits that are already being produced may be scrapped, too.

After I heard this, I walked over to nearest dive, ordered a greasy burger and washed it down with beer. Cold, wonderful beer. Don't judge me. You would have done the same.