When I was a teenager, instead of reading the magazines that had photos of pop stars and told me how to apply lipstick I had a subscription to Campaign, a British weekly trade magazine about Advertising, and Marketing – yes, I was a strange kid. I followed the adventures of agencies like Ogilvy and Saatchi & Saatchi, and BBH,  dreaming of working in one someday… I still follow their adventures and am in awe of some of their ideas.

This is one of my favorites, it’s brilliantly clever and delightful – a combination that won them a couple of Lions at the recent Cannes Advertising Awards. Noticing that most portraits stop at the shoulders, they wondered what their feet would look like, and so, in conjunction with client Kiwi Shoe Polish they set about completing the portraits.

Although the ads run in the real world (on bus stops and in print) to launch the campaign Ogilvy set up an art gallery, complete with an audio tour. I can only imagine the fun that was had with this project. When work is built on such a solid idea, you get to play with the creative.

Find out more at Adweek and Behance – and I’ll be smiling at all portraits in a new way from today.