The Work That Made Me: Jay Brockmeier
Jay Brockmeier serves as a senior creative lead at Nashville-based idea-driven agency BUNTIN. With over a decade of experience as a copywriter, he brings a sharp wit and a dexterity with words and whimsy to every project he works on. Having worked for top agencies in his career prior to BUNTIN, including Grey Group, Doner and Cutwater, he has lent his talents to a wide range of creative campaigns for clients such as Brawny, DraftKings, Peet's Coffee and Detroit Zoo.
The ad/music video from my childhood that stays with me…
Jay> Growing up my walls were covered with posters of athletes, musicians and...Absolut ads. I didn’t know anything about booze and had no idea what a campaign even was, but I knew there was something beautiful about the repetition, simplicity, and cleverness of each one. (Nowadays I prefer Stoli so maybe advertising is all just a sham…? Jokes.)
My first professional project…
Jay> Not sure this counts, but the first assignment I worked on as a 31-year-old intern was to watch HBO Go for a week and make a list of the weirdest/wildest/most awkward scenes I could. (Not a bad first gig.) The end result was Awkward Family Viewing, still one of my favourite campaigns ever.
The ad/music video/game/web platform that made me want to get into the industry…
Jay> Absolut ad-peppered walls notwithstanding, I didn’t really think about getting into the industry until I checked the ‘Advertising Management’ box on my journalism school application. (Didn’t know it was an option, if I’m being honest.) I only checked that box because print journalism, photojournalism, and PR weren’t for me, and I have a face for radio, not for broadcast journalism. Plus, I heard you could wear shorts at ad agencies, so that was enough for me. (Side note: turns out even some agencies discourage shorts, but pants have grown on me. Hat tip Fran Leibowitz.)
The creative work that I keep revisiting…
Jay> I don’t tend to revisit ads. And I don’t typically rewatch or reread things, but music is a different story. There are too many go-to albums to list here, but the ones on quasi-regular repeat are Frank Ocean Blonde and Channel Orange, Steely Dan Aja, Outkast Aquemini, Tool Aenema, Lauryn Hill Unplugged, de la soul Stakes is High, Aretha Franklin Rare & Unreleased, anything Otis Redding/Sam Cooke and currently Zach Bryan Zach Bryan and Boys of Faith. (I guess you could say I have eclectic taste.)
The piece of work that made me so angry that I vowed to never make anything like *that*…
Jay> When it comes to ads, the obvious answer is that Kendall Jenner (or was it Kylie? I’m not sure I know the difference) Pepsi riot ad. The less obvious answer is that there are so many I wouldn’t know where to start. So I won’t. But I will quote Lee Clow with a thought that I think if we all kept in mind, there would be a lot more good ads out there. “Your ad begins as an interruption. Make paying attention to it feel like a reward.” Preach, Lee.
The piece of work that still makes me jealous…
Jay> There are a ton of really bad ads in the world (see above), but there are also some really great ones. Unfortunately, you have to go out of your way to find them (Hat tip to LBB, Creativity, Archive, etc.). But one that makes me jealous on a couple of levels is the Always 'Like a Girl' campaign. Partly because it’s just so damn smart and simple, a little rebellious and subversive, and a lot empowering. Partly because I pitched 'Like a Girl' for a women’s sportswear company that shall not be named and it didn’t go anywhere. So now every time I see it, I get a little sad. Then I feel empowered. Then sad again. But it was a valuable lesson that if you don’t make an idea happen, someone else will. (Hat tip Rick Rubin.)
The creative project that changed my career…
Jay> The Cannes Grand Prix Diamond-Studded Lion that I won for – just kidding, I haven’t won anything at Cannes (although we were shortlisted for our FarmlandXSupreme work). But in all honesty, I think we should have won something for Brawny’s #StrengthHasNoGender campaign I worked on at Cutwater. Before it was commonplace, we changed the iconic Brawny Man to the Brawny Woman for Women’s History Month and spotlighted amazing women that were (and are) kicking ass (can I say ass?) in traditionally male-dominated industries. It opened my eyes to what an 'ad' can be. And it also got on Ellen, which was definitely a first for me.
The work that I’m proudest of…
Jay> I’ll avoid picking #StrengthHasNoGender since I’ve already talked about it and go with something that had less reach, but was super smart (I think) and fun. At Cutwater, we created a campaign to help Peet’s Coffee celebrate its 50Th Anniversary. Peet’s was founded on April Fools Day, so we bucked the trend of brand pranks (you’re welcome) and created an anti-April Fools Day campaign - #NoFooling - focusing on their serious passion for coffee. It was a gratuitous way to shove RTBs in consumers' faces with a funny twist, and I’m still proud of bucking the brand prank trend that’s gotten a little out of hand lately.
I was involved in this and it makes me cringe…
Jay> You didn’t specify if this needed to be advertising-related--and neither my current employer, BUNTIN, nor past employers would ever put cringe-worthy work into the world--so I’m gonna come at this from a different direction. My last job before I went to (my second) portfolio school was dispatching truck drivers and I dispatched a driver who was charged with causing a train derailment. Shortly after that I decided to put my degree to work and now I’m being interviewed by Little Black Book. So I got that goin’ for me, which is nice.
The recent project I was involved in that excited me the most…
Jay> There’s one that we’re currently working on at BUNTIN for SERVPRO that I think could be reeeeally cool. But I’ve been sworn to secrecy, so stay tuned on that front. On a personal note, I finally joined the ‘gram (did that make me sound old?) during the pandemic to showcase photos I took of discarded PPE around Detroit and a few other cities. It was fun. And disgusting on multiple levels. But mostly fun. Take a look at _pretty.garbage_ if you feel like it or whatever.
