Thinkbox
A few words about Brian
A hybrid creative, Cooper has enjoyed a career spanning BBH, McCann-Erickson and Mother.
He was ECD at Ogilvy, had a spell as Apple’s Creative Director and had spent a few highly successful years at Dare when he came in to talk to us.
He has both above the line and digital expertise, having worked with Philips and Coca-Cola.
For Philips he launched a new global brand, Innovation + You, and developed fully integrated brand campaigns for Coca-Cola, including the ‘Reasons to Believe in a Better World’, Coke’s biggest campaign in Europe in 2014.
More about Brian's 3 great ad choices
Apple: 1984
‘1984’ introduced us to the Apple Macintosh personal computer. Directed by Ridley Scott, it alludes to George Orwell’s novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, and its infamous ‘Big Brother’.
Imagined by Steve Hayden, Brent Thomas and Lee Clow at Chiat\Day and produced by Fairbanks Films.
$3.5m worth of Macintoshes were sold after the commercial ran and it has subsequently been added to the The Clio Awards Hall of Fame and topped Advertising Age’s list of 50 greatest commercials.
- Agency: Chiat/Day
- Creative: Steve Hayden/ Brent Thomas
- Director: Ridley Scott
Levi's: Flat Eric
Flat Eric was the yellow puppet created by Bartle Bogle Hegarty for Levi's commercials for Sta-Prest One Crease Denim Clothing.
Flat Eric rides with his friend Angel (Phillipe Petit) around California, bopping to the ‘dirty house’ tune, ‘Flat Beat’.
His ads revived the ‘cool’ image of Levi Strauss. Here, Flat Eric and Angel are pulled over by a policeman and told to open their boot, revealing a set of perfectly pressed clothes.
Directed by Quentin Dupieux through Partizan Midi Minuit, the campaign was meant to be a one-off, but public demand compelled Levi’s and BBH to bring Eric back.
At the Campaign Media Awards, Motive won best use of new media, best international campaign and Campaign’s ‘Campaign of the Year’.
At the British Television Advertising Awards, it won a gold, silver and two bronze Arrows, and in Cannes the television work picked up two Gold Lions.
- Agency: BBH
- Creatives: John Hegarty/ Nick Gill/ Kim Papworth/ Tony Davidson
- Director: Quentin Dupieux
- Production Co: Partizan Midi Minuit
Volkswagen: The Force
Created by Deutsch Advertising Inc by Creative Directors Eric Springer and Michael Kadin, this advert, promoting Volkswagen’s Passat, features a young boy dressed adorably as Darth Vadar.
He tries unsuccessfully to use’ The Force’ on objects around his house with John Williams ‘The Imperial March’ providing suitable music.
His reaction to discovering that he can start the Volkswagen family car, which in fact his dad is secretly operating using a remote control, makes this advert such a winner.
Produced by Lucasfilm, the ad appeared on YouTube the week before its TV debut in February 2011.
The ad was directed by Lance Acord. It was the most shared ad online but received a further 162.9 million views when it launched during the Super Bowl.
- Agency: Deutsch Advertising Inc
- Creatives: Ryan McLaughlin/Craig Melchiano
- Production Co: Park Pictures
- Director: Lance Acord
