My Most Immortal Ad: Wayne Deakin
In the run-up to this year’s Immortal Awards, our jurors will each select an ad that they believe deserves the title of Immortal.
Wayne Deakin, Executive Creative Director EMEA of HUGE, continues the series by selecting one of the Internet’s earliest viral phenomena…
Subservient Chicken | Burger King (CP&B / Barbarian Group, 2004)
WTF! LOL! That’s what I first thought when I saw this weird chicken dude-thing dancing and interacting in a strange suburban front room back in 2004 via what looked like a webcam at the time. So, my vote is going to an industry classic that challenged what advertising was at that time and made you want to engage and share its magic. It was clever, different and successful. A website/viral thing that connected with people and made them interact with the brand.
Looking at it now it may not have the impact or craft but for its time this was truly a ground-breaking digital piece. For me it was one of the early attempts at creating nonlinear advertising and building an experience around the user. It played with film, interactive design and technology in one big strange chicken mash up moment of cultural disruption. A true piece of engineering culture whose narrative was directed and owned by the brand’s audience.
Wayne Deakin will be judging this year's The Immortal Awards. Entries are now open to all Little Black Book members, so head over to the submissions page to submit your best work. If you aren't a member of Little Black Book yet, then you can subscribe here.
