What Won’t You Work On?

First off… I cant believe I actually found an image of a microphone with a stop sign on it without me having to photoshop it myself…. or host it myself.

But lets get back to the topic of this post. What, as a Voice Over Artist/Talent/Producer, won’t you work on. I know most of you have had difficultly finding VO work because of the economic crisis that the whole globe is going through… thanks to usary, the reserve banks of america and wall street in general. But I for one dont follow that code of conduct. I am not a full time Voice Over Talent… as I mentioned in previous blog posts I am a Creative Director at an Advertising Company. So I can pick and choose what jobs to work on.

I am also a Devout muslim. So I follow the teachings of Islam and its criteria on what work I can accept or not.. Others might practice the teachings of the prophet Jesus (peace be upon him and his mother) and others the teachings of the prophet Moses (peace be upon him) … others yet might follow a sense of morality and regardless of their religious affiliation might choose not to accept a job for one reason or another.

I will start with my list:

1. No Cigarette Companies (Their advertising might have been restricted in the West / Europe but in the middle east and in many 3rd world Countries… they don’t have these restrictions… thats how they can still turn a profit when smoking is on a decline in their countries of origin)

2. No Adult related Companies (No pornography might seem like a no brainer but someone must be doing those jobs.)

3. No Banks / Lottos / Insurance Companies (this, like the other parts of the list, is due to my deep belief in Islam. Whether you respect that or not matters not to me… but the reason why I wont work on jobs for banks though there are many and I could be turning in triple what I make because of jobs from them… is Usury. The practice of renting out money for money) Lottos and Casinos because of the gambling aspect… that’s not acceptable… and Insurance … well… that would require a long explanation… but generally I cant stand those companies.)

4. Breweries, Alcoholic retailers, Bars etc. (I wont work on those because if you know anything about the Islamic belief you will know that alcohol is completely unacceptable. That includes places that serve it … manufacture it, market it, transport it…I wont go into the social implications but suffice it to say that I believe Alcohol to be far worse a drug than heroin … and any AA members might agree with me on that.)

5. Hotels & Resorts (this has to do with part 4 of my list… places that surve alcohol… hotels are big on that… even provide you with a mini bar in your room… that is not acceptable. Those that do not serve Alcohol are exempt but this is rarely the case)

6. Work that promotes Atheism or contains Blasphemous Material (I recently refused a job where the client wanted me to read a blurb from a book to promote it… The client was an amazing guy… Nik Ives of Ives Advertising. But the blurb contained a statement that I saw as disrespectful to God… So it didn’t work out)

I am not posting this to judge or be judged by anyone … I am mearly interested in seeing if, like me, other people have criteria for accepting a job or not… I dont care if you are the Voice of Jenna Jameson’s company… working on adult material might be fine for you but maybe you won’t work on jobs for the NRA or the Whalers of Japan Association.

If you have a criteria… post it: