Thinkbox
Sachini Imbuldeniya is the co-founder and chief executive officer at House of Oddities, an independent creative shop that was crowned gold in the Start Up Agency of the Year category at the Campaign Agency of the Year Awards 2024.
Founded on the principle that “difference makes a difference”, and as one of the 0.01% of women of colour that own a creative agency, Imbuldeniya is on a mission to make the industry more equitable for women, people of colour, people with disabilities, the LGBTQ+ community and people from working-class backgrounds.
Imbuldeniya often felt like an outsider in corporate, traditional spaces, so decided to create an unconventional home for the misfits and weirdoes that have a different perspective on life, a different lived experience, and who in turn deliver fresh creative work for brands and audiences.
Recent clients include: Sport England x This Girl Can, Tony’s Chocolonely, Butternut Box, NSPCC, Snapchat, Oxfam and Amnesty International.
Imbuldeniya’s choices
Coppafeel! “Trust your touch” (2017)
Breast cancer charity CoppaFeel! created a bold and empowering ad encouraging viewers to regularly check their breasts with confidence.
Playful and purposeful, it used tongue-in-cheek visual metaphors (jellies, doughnuts and juggling balls) to illustrate the power of fiddling, jiggling and wobbling when it comes to spotting the tell-tale signs of the disease.
It was the first UK daytime ad to show a real female breast, breaking taboos to normalise conversations around breast health. The ad’s upbeat tone and vibrant imagery make a serious message approachable, reminding viewers that knowing their own bodies and trusting their touch could genuinely save their lives.
- Agency: Fold7
- Creative team: Lucy Aston
- Client: CoppaFeel!
- Production company: Riff Raff Films
- Director: Ivana Bobic
JD Sports “The bag for life” (2023)
The JD Sports “The bag for life” Christmas advert is an authentic and culturally-resonant story that places its iconic bag at the heart of real-life youth moments. The film weaves together scenes of young people hanging out, heading to a first kiss, sharing family dinners and kicking about on the street, always with the bag in tow, symbolising continuity, identity and aspiration.
The ad places the bag as a reassuring companion in the journey of growing up, celebrating the bag’s role in British youth culture. The seasonal context and celebrity cameos are handled with a refreshingly light touch.
- Agency: Uncommon Creative Studio
- Creative team: Benny Everitt
- Client: JD Sports
- Production company: Iconoclast
- Director: Amara Abbas
Marmite “End Marmite neglect” (2013)
This TV ad launched a humorous rescue mission for forgotten jars of Marmite, portraying them as abandoned and in need of re-homing, in a mock emergency documentary style.
With the strapline “Love it. Hate it. Just don’t forget it,” the brand both pokes fun at itself and shakes viewers out of complacency, reminding them that a jar left at the back of the cupboard is a wasted opportunity. It boldly blends humour with subtle provocation, driving home the idea that neglecting a beloved (or divisive) icon like Marmite is simply unacceptable.
- Agency: Adam & Eve / DDB
- Creative team: Rob Messeter, Mike Crowe, Nick Sheppard, Tom Webber
- Client: Unilever
- Production company: Outsider
- Director: James Rouse
