We all know that guy who turns up saying he is so busy, so stressed, “everyone is such a prick”, but with the undertone that it’s all because he is so successful and definitely doing better than you, even though he probably himself struggles to sleep at night because he is burnt the fuck out.
Because that’s what a high-flyer is supposed to feel like, right? Balance is for hippies.
Presumably, that guy is who Fiverr are targeting with their new advert which has popped up on the Tube and in various magazines.
It features a disheveled (but obvs beautiful, because all successful people are also beautiful despite not having time to shower) woman who seems slightly dead behind the eyes because she is so damn tired, with the tagline “In doers we trust” to promote their freelance services for entrepreneurs building businesses.
“You eat a coffee for lunch. You follow through on your follow through. Sleep deprivation is your drug of choice. You might be a doer” the text over tired lady says.
The concept of Fiverr is that, as a freelancer, you can advertise and sell your services in a marketplace open to budding entrepreneurs, and said entrepreneurs can find freelancers to do stuff much quicker and probably better than big expensive agencies. Sounds great.
Except most ‘gigs’ start at five bucks, hence the name Fiverr. Which is a bit of a joke, and from what we can tell from looking into how it works the tagline should really be “bust your balls for a Pret lunch”.
A Pret lunch you won’t have time to eat because you’re a go-getter, bro.
Who knows when that became a measure of success but even without knowing about the company, people are pissed off.
Which are all valid points, to be honest.
The ad is part of a campaign that includes a bunch of other posters and a video that are more about being a get-up-and-go entrepreneur rather than, y’know, hiring people who are completely exhausted for less than minimum wage somehow legally.
