So there's a new poll, see, and one thing that makes this poll special is that three quarters of the respondents were just regular people all over the world, and one quarter of respondents were "marketing professionals." Got it? A poll heavily weighted towards marketing professionals. That's the setup. Now, here is the payoff:

But when asked if marketing benefits society, only 13% of consumers agreed. And compared to other professions, the results were grim. Teachers — despite how little they are often compensated — were valued at the top of the list, followed by scientists and engineers. That's somewhat to be expected. But what was more surprising was that advertising and marketing ranked below nearly every other profession, including bankers (32%), lawyers (34%) and even politicians (18%). Marketing and advertising was tied with the job of an actor or actress in terms of its value.

Haha even when you load up a poll with people who work in marketing, you still find it impossible to avoid the conclusion that advertising is one of the most useless—and, indeed, pernicious—fields of employment ever conceived by the greed-addled human mind. Only PR ranked lower!

If you want to hear advertising people tell the truth, ask them about how worthless they are. Noted.

[Ad Age. Photo: Shutterstock]