Felipe Ribeiro: “The Death of an Idea Always Makes Room for Something Better to Be Born”

Little Black Book is the official media partner of the Dead Ad Society, the hungryman-founded award show that resurrects killed ideas.

Launched in 2024, this revival of hibernating concepts sees entered scripts being performed live by an improv group at the awards show. This year it will take place on September 18th at The Mint in Los Angeles after kicking off in New York City last year. A panel of judges crowns a winner, which is then brought to life by hungryman and a collection of companies – including Work Editorial, Sonic Union, ARC, Synapse and the Screen Actors Guild – that support the show with funding, time and resources. Last year's winning script was recently launched as a finished production for KUL MOCKS, a non-alcoholic beverage brand.

“We called it an anti-award show,” says Caleb Dewart, managing partner of hungryman. “It’s supposed to be wild. The scripts were performed live - a glorified table read. It was messy, imperfect, and that was the point. That’s the heart of it.”

Entries for this year’s show are open until August 15th, 2025 at 4pm PDT.

Little Black Book is catching up with this year’s jurors for honest conversations about the ideas that got away – the ones that died, came back, and the ones that stayed dead.

The last interview in this series is by no means the least. Today we’re chatting to Felipe Ribeiro, chief creative officer at Wieden+Kennedy Portland.

​​Check out previous entries to the interview series here.​

LBB> Let's start with the obvious question: Is there an idea you’re still emotionally attached to, even years later?

Felipe> Not really. But there are a few I wish I had made. One of them was for Budweiser. We stumbled across some incredible old photos online – early-days Rolling Stones drinking Buds by a hotel pool. Turns out they were actually found at a flea market, and no one knows who took them. Our idea was to launch a campaign to find the author of the photos. Think forensic analysis, even a regression session with Mick Jagger to see if he could remember who was with him that day. In the end, it didn’t happen. But from that same brief came the ‘Tagwords’ campaign, which turned out pretty great too.

LBB> What did the death of it teach you about the business? Or about yourself?

Felipe> There’s a quote from my ex-partner André Gustavo – now global COO at W+K – that I love. He says, “Anyone can be creative, as long as they know how to hear ‘no.’” That’s pure truth. Our job is built on the premature death of ideas. Every day. Way more deaths than births. But that process taught me to live with less attachment, and to trust myself a little more, because I learned that the death of an idea always makes room for something better to be born. That’s how I think. So I don’t suffer much.

LBB> What do you look for in a dead ad that makes you say, ‘This deserves to live’?

Felipe> Well, life is rare! It’s the result of a million microscopic things aligning. Cells, organisms, bacteria, all dancing to the same rhythm just right. That’s the miracle. So I wouldn’t say something deserves to live. That’s not up to opinion (especially not mine). An ad deserves to live if it ticks all the boxes, if all things align. But in the case of this festival, what I’m really hoping for is to find something way too good to not at least be tested for real.

LBB> How are you feeling about judging scripts in real time, in front of a live audience?

Felipe> Absolutely terrified.

LBB> How will you approach judging a script that’s being performed live? Do you think the crowd will sway you?

Felipe> I hope so. Pressure makes diamonds. Or public meltdowns. Either way, it’s good entertainment. Bring the tomatoes.

LBB> Dead Ad Society is part award show, part séance. What’s your mindset heading into the room?

Felipe> I’m definitely more interested in the séance part. Because aren’t all awards shows a little theatrical at the end of the day?

LBB> What’s the most ridiculous reason an idea of yours was killed?

Felipe> Probably because a group of six people in a cold room eating finger food decided it wouldn’t increase consumer interest in the product — which tends to happen when research gets a little too literal in how it captures people’s thoughts.

LBB> What’s your theory on why great ideas often don’t survive the process?

Felipe> I’m a big believer that great ideas can survive the process. But yes, sometimes the process finds the dumbest possible ways to kill them. I honestly can’t explain it.

LBB> Outside of this award show, have you ever seen a killed idea come back to life and succeed later?

Felipe> Oh yes. In Brazil we talk a lot about ‘idéias de gaveta’ – drawer ideas. Didn’t work this time? Fine. Stick it in the drawer and try it again later. Of course, it has to make sense with the new context, brand, brief, ambition. But somehow – as if the universe wants it to happen – things often just fall into place.

LBB> Have you ever been the one to kill an idea - and regretted it?

Felipe> Absolutely. As for regret… if I thought about it too much, I’d never have peace. So I try not to.

LBB> If you had to hold a funeral for a dead idea, what song would play?

Felipe> Bitter Sweet Symphony. Just because that funeral scene in Cruel Intentions hit hard when I was a pre-teen.