Media Perspective: What's happened to all of our influential advertising figures?(trends in advertising industry)(Viewpoint essay)

I've recently been involved in one of those lists newspapers get together to fill a slow news week - The 50 Most Influential Non-Elected People in Britain. It was excellent fun having irresolvable debates about whether Wayne Rooney is more influential than Brendan Barber, or arguing if Dr Rowan Williams is influential just because of his job or whether he 'punches above his weight for an Archbishop'.

Who wouldn't like to be in a meeting where a phrase like that comes up? What was sad, though, was that, try as I might, I couldn't get an advertising person on the list. I made a bold stab for Robert Saville of Mother - iconic work, new ways of doing business, much admired abroad - but no-one was buying it. I think Alan Titchmarsh edged him out. And it's not to have a go at Mr Saville (he'd still be advertising's best case), it's just the industry really has lost some cultural impact There was a time when you could imagine several advertising names on such a list: John Webster, the Saatchis, David Abbott, the usual suspects, and more recently Trevor Beattie might have popped up. But these days there's no-one, and it's made me wonder why not.

The obvious suggestion is that advertising's just not as good as it used to be, and though I'd like to resist such an argument (because I hate that kind of nostalgia about music or television or most things), it's ...