Very smart guest-posting by a former student: Racism, Xenophobia, and the Super Bowl Coke spot.
I had, for a number of reasons, left out Coca-Cola’s “Beautiful” Super Bowl spot by W+K out of my ad picks of the year. The first reason being that it didn’t quite move me like my other options did. It was a spot that is worthy of the Wieden + Kennedy name: a larger...R.I.P. Mike Hughes, The Most Loved Man in All of Advertising.
On January 24th, someone told me Mike Hughes was sick again, and when I read his first blog posting it broke my heart. The first entry on Mike Hughes’s blog: I’m supposed to die tomorrow. Hope not. Two weeks ago, the doctors gave me two weeks to live. I’m...Old Man Sullivan Yells at Ad Kids from His Porch, “You Kids Just Git Now!”
Okay, I have the next viral branding stunt all figured. Just nailed it. We go to a college and randomly pick ten freshmen for an “interview” in some office on campus. Obviously, the room will be wired for video and sound and we’ll record everything that is said. The...Ad School Ain’t Like School School. (Or “Problem Finding VS Problem Solving.”)
Here’s the thing. I went to a School School but now I teach at an Ad School. And it’s really different. At School School, you study the books they assign you, do the homework they give you, take the tests they hand out in class. You’re checkin’ the boxes so you...“It’s not a principle until it costs you money.”
The quotation above is from the famous Bill Bernbach. I think it is one of the smartest things I’ve ever heard and is such a great way to truly describe what the word “principle” stands for. The best single example of somebody standing up for a...
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Luke Sullivan
Author, speaker, and ad veteran available to recharge, reinvigorate, and refocus marketing, advertising, and branding firms.
I give a hugely energetic series of presentations on innovation, creativity, branding, and marketing. I spent 32 years in the trenches of advertising (at agencies like Martin, GSD&M, and Fallon) and I’ve put everything I learned into my book, Hey Whipple, Squeeze This. But for me nothing beats taking the message out and speaking to living breathing audiences at clients, agencies, and conferences. You can book me on the button below.
