Thinkbox
Lynsey Atkin is the Executive Creative Director of 4Creative, Channel 4’s in-house creative agency.
Prior to that, she was creative director at Havas London where she was in charge of Carling and Heathrow as well as creating work for Rolls Royce and the Department for Education. She also oversaw the global Durex account.
She started as a designer for Neville Brody before co-founding the printing / publishing company, Ditto. Specialising in counter-culture, the company released titles such as ‘Pigs Disco’, ‘Ninja Turtle Sex Museum’ and 'How to Disappear: A Memoir for Misfits’, which was awarded the prestigious English PEN/Ackerley.
While still running Ditto, Lynsey curve-balled into advertising as a creative strategist at BBH – working across entertainment brands such as ITV, MySpace, Virgin Media and The Guardian – whose brand campaign ‘The Three Little Pigs’ was the UK’s most awarded film in 2012.
Lynsey joined Havas after being head of creative development in Conde Nast’s video team (British Vogue, British GQ and WIRED UK), both editorially and for brands like Burberry, Gucci and Intel – that were awarded Webbys, Lovies and Shots Awards.
Lynsey's choices
Puma "After hours athlete"
Launched in 2010 as part of a global campaign to promote their new category of footwear, Puma Social, for the 'after hours athlete'.
Created by Droga5, the campaign aims to put the fun back into sports and champion the footwear for people who are active socially, not just athletically.
The ad was directed by Ted Royer and shows people playing pool in a bar and bowling at night, with one strapline saying: "It’s a lot more fun to take a 5am cab than a 5am run", and another: "Give 75 per cent".
Starbucks "Glen"
This 2005 spot by Fallon New York for Starbucks Doubleshot features veteran rockers Survivor.
The ad directed by Ari Merkin shows ambitious office worker, Glen as he is followed around by Survivor as they sing a spoof of "Eye of the Tiger". From shaving in the bathroom to arriving at the office, they have something to say about his driven lifestyle, powered by Starbucks Doubleshot.
Wall’s "Garage"
The Talking Dog campaign was developed at Saatchi & Saatchi, London, for Wall’s by executive creative directors Paul Silburn and Kate Stanners. The campaign features Alan, a miniature dog used by men to express their feelings.
The ad follows on from a campaign first launched in 1993 by McCann Erickson inspired by the talking dog from Sunday Night’s TV show ‘That’s Life’. His first television appearance was in an ad where his owner tried to train him to say "sausages", but all he could say was "Wall’s".
About this series
In this series of short films, leading Thinkbox Academy members have the tricky task of selecting just three TV ads that have inspired them: brilliant commercials, old and new, that they admire but had nothing to do with.
The idea is not only to explore some of our greatest ads in the company of people who know a thing or two about making them, but also, because of the proven link between creativity and effectiveness, to inspire the advertising industry to even greater heights.