The vice president of Ogilvy, an advertising giant in the United Kingdom, stirs notoriety in a recent controversial article published in London's The Spectator, last Saturday. In a column, Rory Sutherland asks, "Where are all the hippies, the potheads and the commies? And why is everyone so intently serious and sober all the time?"

Sutherland, a Cambridge graduate, is the vice president of Ogilvy Group UK, an award-winning and leading communications and marketing company. According to their website, they encourage creative work, which is both accountable and effective. Sutherland is also the executive creative director, which could explain his unorthodox call to encourage "pot heads" to join the Ogilvy team.

He poses the argument that there is no proof that students with higher ranking first-class degrees will prove to be better employees than those with lower third-class degrees, unless graduates work in a specialized field that demands particularly remarkable math skills. He theorizes that by attracting the lower half of the degrees, Ogilvy will have an exclusive access to a large pool of graduates who are just as valuable as the upper half of degree-earners.

According to Forbes, an American business news magazine, regardless of economic climate, the competition to recruit top college graduates is a fierce line of business for employers. Unemployment rates for college graduates is currently at 3.7 percent and has never been more than 5.1 percent, despite the economic recession which began in 2007. College graduates, regardless if they are first-class or second-class degree earners, have a very high chance of landing a job in any economy. But of course, that job may not be their first choice of occupation.

He believes the employees out of the lower half will be more loyal because they won't be competing for the attention of "deep-pocketed pimps in investment banking."

Student loyalty could also from a desire to achieve a good return on investment (ROI), considering new graduates leave school with an average of $27,000 in student loans. Good news to college students, whether or not they smoke pot, is that the hiring of new college graduates is expected to increase, according to major recruiters at the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

Although, Sutherland's hypothesis remains unproven, he believes, "the logic in inarguable" and that many people are undervalued in the market. This may be true for some, but not for all, which could cause a lengthier interview process for employers if they were to practice this theory. Sutherland may have some good points yet, as he believes that by placing value on a person based solely on their degree-class, the employer misses out on a pool of potentially propitious employees that were not given a chance.

By weeding out applicants based on the single measure of degree-class, the pool of talent becomes, "dangerously homogeneous" and leads to "insane, competitive credentialism" and creates a poor work environment that inhibits potential growth and creativity.

Sutherland ends his theories and thoughts on an offer to readers. "Send me a litre of Tanqueray and I'll happily confirm that your son or daughter performed a magnificent four-week internship with me," he offers parents. "Meanwhile your kids can all go off to Goa and spend the summer smoking drugs on the beach as God intended. Nobody will be any wise-and nobody will be any worse off."