Andy Jex is chief creative officer of TBWA\London. He joined the agency last year from Saatchi & Saatchi where he was ECD working on brands including Direct Line, HSBC, Toyota and HomeAway. Highlights include the launch of EE featuring Kevin Bacon, Wall’s ‘Dog in a Box’ and Mattessons’ ‘Hank Marvin.’ Before joining Saatchi he worked at Mother and Fallon in London where he developed award-winning work for top-tier clients including Stella Artois, BBC Radio 1Xtra, Sony and Pot Noodle.
Desert Island Ads
I might be alright on a desert island. I can’t hunt, build or survive. But I reckon I could deal with the isolation, for a while at least. After the honeymoon period with loneliness, I’d appreciate some companionship. So who better to have by my side than a few of advertising’s finest. So I’ve put together a crew. They’re not long running campaign characters. Just a bunch of my most loved, funny and memorable misfits from ad land. We wouldn’t survive, but we’d all die laughing.
Starburst ‘berries and cream’ – I’ve always re-watched this in times of need. For a laugh, a lift or inspiration.
Skittles Piñata guy – The timing, the tone, the inherent melancholy, it’s all just pitch perfect. He’s truly special – even if he claims to be “just like everyone else.”
Miller Lite Shaky arm drummer – A loner, outcast turned hero. Brilliantly lateral. Inspired our industry so much, it split it in half: BSA (Before Shaky Arm) and ASA (After Shaky Arm).
Panda – The restraint, the timing, the sheer mayhem. Genius.
Kenzo dancer – Brave and bonkers crafted to perfection. An absolute wonder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABz2m0olmPg
Burger King Subservient Chicken – Made me deeply jealous and seemed utterly inconceivable to me at the time. It showed me the way into a new world and set a new standard. He’d be great on the island too – “Chicken – do all the hunting, building and surviving stuff. Thank you Chicken.”
Ikea Lamp – An inanimate character, but there’s so much personality in there. There’s a sadness followed by a brilliantly blunt abruptness to this that I adore. Come and take refuge on my island little lamp lad.
Levi’s Flat Eric – The way the product is integrated is effortless, the restrained use of the puppet is sublime and the outcome groundbreaking, joyful and much copied.
