Have you read Creative X in Ad Age this week? What the hell is this? Some anonymous "traditional" creative takes his career on a digital path in "Bring On Digital: Why I No Longer Consider Myself A Traditionalist." So he's "slumming" now, doing web banners instead of TV spots, afraid of what his "peers" will think about how he's earning a paycheck. (But I guess we should assume the digital world is much better now that he is in it.)

I'm hoping this is a gimmick. I'm hoping that hiding in the shadows is just his way of getting us talking. If not, I couldn't give a damn about his new life among us more "common" creatives.

Like Creative X, I have traditional roots too. I thought TV was the only place to be. I loved going on lengthy shoots all over the country. Craft services brought me any meal I wanted. And I loved having talented directors create some great spots for my reel... Oops, did I say my reel? I meant to say great spots for out clients. For people like X, their careers seem like one big ego trip. Now that clients won't give him a million to make a commercial, he must now learn to work in another medium at a third of the cost. How will he ever survive?

He writes about attending an awards show and his eyes were opened by all of the great experiential work he saw. Great. He now knows something many of us have always known — creativity and great advertising doesn't begin and end with TV.

My choice to work in other mediums had nothing to do with my ego (nor the fact I couldn't cut it with TV). I simply saw a change coming in the industry, dictated by the way consumers were receptive to information. I didn't just accept it, I embraced it. Whether it's digital, direct, events, whatever, I don't consider these mediums "less" than traditional advertising. They're just different and more specific ways of talking to an audience. Different challenges don't make you less creative.You're just a different creative.

Don't be fooled. Someone with years of TV experience doesn't just jump into digital, CRM or any other medium. It's true in reverse. As an experiential marketer, I've never lost my respect for traditional advertising. Under the guise of Creative X, the respect doesn't feel mutual.

Why can't Creative X just identify himself as a traditional ad guy redefining himself in a non-traditional world?

We're all doing it everyday.

And it's nothing to be ashamed of.