The Work That Made Me: Evan Borden
Evan Borden is a senior copywriter at Rubin Postaer and Associates in Santa Monica, CA. Originally from Chicago, he started his copywriting journey at a small healthcare shop before taking his talents out west to chase bigger dreams and palmier trees. In his six years at RPA, he’s won awards, new business, and touched nearly every client the agency’s had to offer, including Honda, Dole, Farmers Insurance, Southwest Airlines, La-Z-Boy, and ARCO.
Below he shares some of the work that helped shape his creativity.
The ad/music video from my childhood that stays with me…
Evan> I have fond memories of United Airlines commercials from the early 2000s. Particularly the animated ones - 'The Meeting' and 'A Life' are two that come to mind - played to the tune of Rhapsody in Blue. Perfectly inspiring, touching, charming, all at once. Made me want to conquer the world at age 10.
The ad/music video/game/web platform that made me want to get into the industry…
Evan> 'The Man Who Walked Around the World' from Johnnie Walker. It’s a low-budget, single-take short that encapsulates the significance of founder John Walker and his impact on whiskey’s popularisation. I don’t remember where I first saw it, but I do remember wondering why I suddenly cared so much about the brand history of a certain Scotch whiskey. That’s the power of advertising.
The creative work (film/album/game/ad/album/book/poem, etc.) that I keep revisiting…
Evan> Apple’s most recent holiday spot, 'Fuzzy Feelings.' A tender, four-minute film that weaves impeccable storytelling with gorgeous stop-motion animation (all shot using Apple products!), it’s tough to get through with dry eyes. It’s also a good reminder that best practices are, at best, a suggestion. No product or brand in the first three seconds? No sound-off optimisation? No short-form video? No problem.
My first professional project…
Evan> A digital/social campaign for Dole frozen fruit. I remember my partner at the time, a freelance creative director, was noticeably giddy following the meeting in which we sold a concept through. Truly naïve and unknowing, I asked him if it was really that big of a deal, and he told me something along the lines of “getting a project into production is never a given.” I haven’t taken a day of it for granted since.
The piece of work (ad/music video/ platform…) that made me so angry that I vowed to never make anything like *that*…
Evan> The Pepsi 'Live for Now' spot with Kendall Jenner stands out as one of the worst in recent memory. I admit this pick feels like low-hanging fruit, but it’s that bad.
The piece of work (ad/music video/ platform…) that still makes me jealous…
Evan> Just about anything from Liquid Death. If you want a crash course in how stupidity sells - and I mean this as a compliment - look no further than Liquid Death. From the Steve-O water tattoo stunt to the 'Greatest Hates' albums (composed of fake songs featuring less-than-friendly social media remarks about their brand as lyrics), they blend confidence, irreverence, and weirdness so well. You know the work’s good when it’s got people brand-loyal to a canned water.
The creative project that changed my career…
Evan> The social launch of the 2022 Honda Civic Sedan, 'Drive Your Fun.' In an effort to be scrappy and efficient during the covid-19 pandemic, my partner and I had this idea to send the new Civic to different content creators and essentially let them direct their own videos - in their own trademark style - revolving around the car. The result was 12 unique videos from four different creators that really pushed the boundaries of what Honda had been doing at the time, visually. The campaign won a few awards, but the real benefit was that it opened my eyes to a whole new world of content-creation possibilities.
The work that I’m proudest of…
Evan> A recent brand campaign for Honda and its rugged vehicle line up called 'Chasing Greatness.' In a sea of car manufacturers marketing their trucks/SUVs with the same expected tactics and tropes - extreme weather conditions, wildlife, lifestyle imagery of outdoor activity - ours takes a more thoughtful approach to portray rugged in a new light. It feels so unlike competitors’ work in the rugged space but so true to Honda simultaneously; I consider it more cinema than car commercial.
I was involved in this, and it makes me cringe…
Evan> Back when NFTs were hot in the streets, I worked on an NFT launch that never saw the light of day. We briefed too late in the game and started seeing the writing on the wall when public interest began to wane. Now, to be clear, the work itself never made me cringe - I thought the idea behind the launch was strong and contextually relevant - but the fact that we worked on it for months knowing full well it would get the axe before going into production makes me cringe to this day.
The recent project I was involved in that excited me the most…
Evan> I’m currently working on a project that’s being brought to life with the help of AI. It’s still in production, so I can’t divulge too much info, but it’s the first project of its kind for both the brand and for RPA. Learning to harness the power of AI has been equal parts exciting and intimidating, but the best way to learn is to dive in headfirst.
