UNWANT IT

An ad for laundry detergent cell phone space travel devices.

Walk Don't Run

Art Director: Leif Allen

Copywriter: Matt Weiner

Matt's ability to pull substance out of the ether really shines here. This ad actually makes sense. Not only that, but I would actually buy whatever it is they are selling.

Dude Has An Idea

Art Director: Leif Allen

Copywriter: Hart Rusen

From the genius that is Hart.

Absolute gold.

Oceans of Social

Art Director: Leif Allen

Copywriter: Leif Allen

Love them Social Campaigns.

Corn City

Art Director:Leif Allen

Copywriter:Nick Goodey

An advertisement for Corn City tourism. Nick was so jacked up on Capri Suns when he wrote this that he forgot he was a Creative Director for a moment and approved all of our real work for the day, sending us home early to enjoy our lives as human beings.

Any World Will Do

Art Director:Leif Allen

Copywriter:Casey Brewer

Casey is a dreamer. He wants everyone to be happy, content and live a stress free life. This is his mantra. His way of life.

Drawing upon this well spring of pure delight and his love for humanity, completely inspired by the words of Kahlil Gibran, Casey crafted this wonderful piece of copy. Let's explore the galaxy together, hand in hand, and explore these brave new worlds.

It Shoots Lasers

Art Direction:Leif Allen

Copywriter:Nick Goodey

Intended to be a campaign for peace. Guns, whether they be real or imagined are designed to kill things. Nick pulls no punches in his copy. Brutal, honest, and with a dry british wit, Nick crafted some truly amazing copy that will leave the reader changed forever. Now go hug someone close to you.

Beer For Giants

First idea I came up with to get the brain moving working on a Beck's digital campaign. This was never shown to the client. I wanted to do something that would differentiate Beck's from the rest of the beers in its category. Give it a funny and weird edge. I can't find the photographer who put this image together. This was only a comp.

So It Begins

“The real fact of the matter is that nobody reads ads. People read what interest them, and sometimes it's an ad.”-Howard Gossage

Anyone working in advertising knows that most of the work we do is purely to "pay the bills", work that doesn't necessarily inspire, definitely wont win awards, and surely doesn't make a good ad, but work none the less and nothing to be ashamed of. It does keep the roof over your head, and keeps your family and you fed.

We have all come up with brilliant ideas that have died on the vine, or have been mercilessly killed by the client. We have all had ideas of our own, for our own fictitious clients, that we have done just for the fun of it. These creative experiments, which are the focus of this blog, are sometimes our best work, because they are the most pure. It reminds us why we got into this crazy business in the first place, it can be a lot of fun. How many people can say that their job is to be creative all day? We should all be thankful for making this life for ourselves.

So there you have it. Being an Art Director I wont bore you with any more of my prose, and get right to the point. Over the next few months I will be posting some "fake ads", feel free to comment, love them, hate them, draw ideas from them. Share links of your own fake ads. This is just to keep my creative brain being creative. And who knows, maybe one of these fakies will become real one day.

-Leif Allen

Art Director

Publicis in the West