Rodolphe Pinta on Advertising as a Form of Art

Rodolphe Pinta, now associate creative director at Herezie, came from an art background, with both of his parents being in a creative field since he can remember — one being an expert in art history and the other head decorator at Galeries Lafayette. Always surrounded by “artistic things” in his own words, Rodolphe was never a stranger to the smell of paint, cut-up magazines and creative chaos. Yet his one prominent hobby, when he was a child, was “simply, LEGO.” Not that simple when you think about the fact that all he wanted to do with it was create objects from all over the world. “I had a green side before I even knew it,” he says.

Growing up in a constant state of creativity and a mess of all things art, he was also pretty okay with crowds — “There were always people around me,” says Rodolphe. “I loved talking to adults, to understand things that weren’t necessarily of my age. I always want to meet people and get out of my comfort zone.” This trait of his, and his never-ending curiosity, were probably the first ever inklings of the heights he would soon reach in the creative industry. However curious, he also knows that once he discovers something, he needs to “wear it out as much as possible.” He says, “I’m really passionate, but that’s as much a quality as a flaw, in my opinion.”

In high school, Rodolphe doesn’t remember being particularly interested in academia, however the discovery of advertising (by chance) helped him blend the two things he liked: creation and sociability. The chance of him finding out about advertising was all up to one beautiful meeting. He says, “A friend of mine at the end of high school told me about advertising when we were both looking at studying art. I followed him by chance during the registration process and that’s how I ended up in advertising.”

From that point onwards, Rodolphe followed a classic path — “Sup de Pub Paris for four years, which was masters number one, with a creative option and that’s where I found what I was going to do.” To Rodolphe, it became clear that it wasn’t at school that he actually learned how to do advertising and communication, but it is where he understood that the field was full of possibilities. “It was up to me to go on that adventure.” The first steps of his adventure happened to be his first internship at TBWA, which in his words, “gave [him] a good understanding of what [he] was getting into professionally.” There he assumed his first proper advertising folk position as artistic director alongside Alexis Le Bihan at TBWA and Rosbeef. This is also where he met the first set of people that, in addition to the YouTube tutorials for the technical side of things, helped him hone his craft through numerous meetings and conversations.

“Just because you think it, doesn’t mean everyone else does,” is one of these valuable lessons Rodolphe remembers from the early days of her career. “A mentor at an internship told me that when I was trying to sell an idea. It’s silly and simple, but sometimes you have to keep it in mind. More related to design and creation, it was my CD at Geometry Global (Ogilvy Action), Yvan Hiot, who explained to me that the real idea is the one that’s indestructible, no matter how you turn it.”

When it comes to the work, one of Rodolphe’s first projects at TBWA was to work on the Happy Meal and the little character Happy on the McDonald’s box, particularly in France. “It was very thorough. I had to think 360, but above all, have fun. I learned to work on 30 second films with a real comedy structure, and how to decline it in different media.” And when it comes to projects that changed his career, like many creatives, Rodolphe believes that every one of his projects brought its own sets of surprises and disappointments. The good, the bad and the ugly, are all part of “the beauty of business.” 

“But if I had to pick one it would be ‘Parental Control’ for Prime Video. An idea that aimed to raise awareness and inform the public about the platform’s parental control, by featuring children drawing shows that they hadn’t seen, just going off the title. The idea was that we prefer they imagine them, rather than watch them.” At that time Rodolphe had just become a father, so to work on such a project hit close to home on a personal level. 

Looking at the industry on a broader scale, what Rodolphe enjoys the most changes all the time - as an AD, he loves discovering, manipulating and creating images, and finds something he loves in everything aspect of the process. The one thing that has consistently irritated him, however, has been the injustices adland is prone to fostering. “Sometimes, ideas don’t get by and you can’t figure out why. Or they’re not accepted, or they are, but with difficulty. It’s not about ego, it’s more a question of frustration.” Besides this, Rodolphe doesn’t believe in the idea that advertising can save the world, so “we should be content with being what we are in the eyes of the general public, an entertainment, or a source of information. If the dentist needs a dream, to escape, to laugh after a long day of filling cavities, we’re here.” This is why one of his biggest aspirations in his work is to remain a source of creative thinking for others, as all of his CDs, bosses, and partners have been for him.

And what inspires him? “The people I work with on a daily basis,” Rodolphe says. “I like to think that what we do in advertising is a form of art, not at the same level as artists, but still leaving our trace on Earth.”