Thank you, Ernie and John. Seriously.

I was in a weird funk prior to the election and I'm certain I wasn't the only person feeling that way. I've been in self-exile in my garage tinkering on an old truck and thinking a lot about everything our country and the world has been through.

In fact, I'm just now starting to find my equilibrium again. Turning wrenches, grinding metal, and running air tools is my catharsis. It helps me relax, and think.

My garage project is just an excuse, really. A point of focus that takes my mind off of the stuff I feel I have little control over.

My project is really just a series of problems and solutions that if solved in the right order will result in a vehicle ready for another twenty years of faithful service.

So yeah, I've been wrenching, and thinking and posting less.

I've been reflecting on November with a mixture of gratitude and confidence that the worst is behind us. Although we're a far cry from out of the woods, I'm optimistic that our country is pointed in a better direction.

I'm thankful that things are changing.

And I'm grateful that there are people who willing to make a difference when things are at their lowest point. This brings me to the real subject of this article, Ernie Shenck and John John Doyle, and a remarkable campaign they launched prior to the election.

Over the last several months, I've watched from home as the advertsing world has continued to spin. I've witnessed the vitriol. The typical self-congratulatory BS, which struck me as oddly tone deaf. Shallow posturing and virtue-signaling.

Yes, I've come to realize that I've even done some of that myself. And then there's what Ernie Schenck and John Doyle did. They created something that rose above the fray, at least for me and I suspect a lot of other people trying to make sense of the moment we found ourselves in.

#NovemberIsCalling

Here's what really cut through to me about what Ernie and John did. It didn't smack of an agenda beyond making intelligent people think. Unlike a lot of stuff I was seeing, it wasn't overly clever or created to win a boatload of shiny awards.

At least that's how it felt for me.

It took truth and turned it into a brilliantly simple campaign that made a huge impact in my world. It captured the absurdity of what we were all witnessing and clearly articulated a solution. It didn't take cheap shots. I got to the heart of the matter with a refreshing absence of window-dressing and cut through with surgical precision.

To me, it was the most meaningful campaign I saw in months. And I have no doubt that it influenced a lot of people to get off their asses and vote.

It wasn't funny. It had the courage to avoid the all-too-common comedic crutches so many of us ad folks so easily fall into.

It simply presented two points of view through quotes.

Whether this campaign shows up in award shows is immaterial, as far as I'm concerned. The campaign did something that very few pieces of communication did well during these times. It made absolute sense when nothing else seemed to.

I know the world isn't perfect and that it never will be. But I've buoyed with optimism that we're going to dig our way out of the dark place we've been in.

Bravo, Ernie and John. You two continue to have my continued admiration.

Cameron Day generally tries to end his articles with a pithy plug. That doesn't feel appropriate this time around.