—The latest instalment of a new regular column that long-time Canadian creative Craig Redmond will be writing for our Monday newsletter. Sign up for the newsletter here—

The other morning, I awoke with the strangest feeling. My fists were unclenched. My jaw not sore from grinding molars. My mind was relatively clear instead of being a haunted closet, cluttered with pre-dawn dream debris.

I felt…rested.

And as the day progressed and that unfamiliar sense of calm ensued, I realized what was happening: It had been nearly one month since we had last seen or heard from Donald Trump. No Twitter tattles. No Facebook fakery. No Fox TV tyranny. For a
blessed three-and-a-half psyche-soothing weeks.

It’s estimated that Trump told over 30,000 lies during his term according to the Washington Post. That works out to 14 untruths per day on average. That daily barrage of subterfuge and vexing bombast shredded our nerves down to a few frayed threads, clinging to the last fragile sprigs of honesty and decency.

Of course, as ad peeps, we can’t exactly claim to be absolute defenders of truth ourselves. We bend, stretch and sculpt brand stories to our liking and the appeasement of our clients’ bottom line. But we have a get-out-of-jail-free name for that: It’s called hyperbole.

I’m not sure if it was the galling hyperbole dished out by the creators of the “sofa in a box” that got me with this ad from SNUG, or if it was the sheer sense of rapture I share with its actors as we ourselves melt into a comforting post-Trump return to reality.

Either way, this little moment of respite should make us all smile.

Craig Redmond is a creative leader with Palmer Stamnes and Co, an independent family of marketing communication companies.