High Five: Shaping Who You Are

As kids, getting milk delivered in the morning was a thing of joy for my sister and me. Not only was the milk essential for our cereal, but we coveted the rare bottles adorned in ads. These vibrant milk bottles brought contextual colour to our breakfast and the brands they peddled. The LBC ad featured above isn’t beautifully designed, or from a brand I align to, but it’s deftly written. More snap, less crackle, no pop. Succinct, contextual and highly memorable. To this day, part of our childhood collection has survived multiple moves, and is proudly displayed in my sister’s kitchen.

This joyous ear-worm has lived with me for 30-something years. Sing it as you read it. It might make you smile. "The red car and the blue car had a race. All red wants to do is stuff his face. He eats everything he sees, from trucks to prickly trees, but smart ol’ blue took the Milky Way. He’s looking for a chocolate treat, fluffy and light, cos he knows it won’t spoil his appetite. Oh no, the bridge has gone. Old red can’t carry on. But smart ol’ blue, he took the Milky Way." I say, bring back the jingle, bring back the ear-worm...

When Tango came on air in '92, it smashed through every ad break it was in, put Tango on the map and went viral before viral was a thing. I was one of the millions of kids that got Tango’d in the playground - so I shouldn’t really like it. But, despite a perforated eardrum, I still love it. When I got the chance to work with Al Young, who wrote the ad, I jumped at it. 11 years later, we still work together, and through some sort of karma, Al suffers from terrible tinnitus.

This isn’t strictly an ad - it wasn’t scripted and it wasn’t planned - but this amazing story played out live to billions of people around the world during the Barcelona Olympics. And as an 11-year-old watching this 400m semi-final, my love of athletics, the Olympics and Nike was well and truly cemented. A story of heart, bravery and overcoming the odds, it’s a beautiful representation of what’s humanly possible. It represents the Olympic and Nike spirit. I love both, and to this day I hug my feet with Huarache trainers.

Carl Lewis might have lost the 100m final to Linford in '92, but he remains an all-time legend. This ad, shot by Annie Liebovitz, doesn’t need to show product, in fact it’s all the better for it. Tyres aren’t sexy, but what they do when expressed like this, is. I don’t like referencing other ads when writing strategies or directing creative work, but this is a brilliant bit of thinking, brilliantly executed, and I can’t help but reference its brilliance. Power is nothing without control.