In that era just before the repeal of martial law, society was wracked by numerous problems. Meanwhile, advertising people lived affluent lives among their own circles. Upon his return to Ogilvy & Mather, Cheng found that he "just couldn't go on" working the way he had.
解嚴前夕的台灣社會如此動盪，廣告人卻在自己的小圈子裡過著優渥生活，回到奧美後，他發現自己「再也沒辦法像以前那樣上班下去了。」