My first advertising lesson.

That picture piercing your eyes, are guts. And, believe it or not, it was what got me into college. No, I’m not talking about my guts, but about real, raw, juicy guts. You see, as part of the admission process for fashion school, candidates had to make what they called a “Creative Test”, which I took quite literally. The brief was simple. Deliver a creative piece in under 24h.

The next day, the principal got a package that could’ve been a message from Don Corleone himself. She received a 50cm x 50cm glass box filled with innards. You know, guts, hearts, stomachs. Everything just rotting away. I called it Politically Correct.

Four years later, I ran into one of the administration staff. She stopped me and asked if I was the guy who made the glass cube filled with guts. “Yes,” I said warily. She followed with another question, “What was that?!”. I told her it was my creative test, to which she confessed they were so shocked by, they had no choice but to accept me.

I didn’t know it then, but this turned out to be my first lesson in advertising. I had to think outside the box –ironic, isn’t it?– if I wanted to get admitted. I was applying to a creative school, after all. This piece achieved its goal and ticked three important boxes. It was simple, attention-grabbing (gusty), and memorable.

I realized that advertising had always been a part me. I just started getting paid for it late in life.