Zulu Alpha Kilo Shares a Poignant Goodbye to its Old Home

When we all rushed out of our offices in March of 2020, no one could have imagined how long it would be or how much the world would change during that time. Nearly two years later, the majority of the staff at Zulu Alpha Kilo are all still working from home. Last month the agency handed in the keys to its old office. Days before the lease on its office of 13 years expired, Zulu founder and CCO Zak Mroueh had an idea on how to pay tribute to his agency’s long-time home with a poignant goodbye.

With a small crew, he documented the final days of the original office with a tribute and walk down memory lane. The film begins with Zak walking into the building for the last time. It then touchingly juxtaposes the empty desks and boardrooms with real audio clips of iconic moments in Zulu’s history. In one moment, the camera pans down an empty boardroom table as we hear staff cheer the news that the agency had won the entire Coca-Cola account in 2010. Then we hear president and CEO Mike Sutton’s head being shaved (after Zak jokingly promised the client that Mike would go bald like him if they won the business). We hear a clip from Zulu’s 2008 launch stunt ‘Thinking Inside the Box’, where Zak and his fledgling team set up shop in a giant white box in the middle of a bustling downtown square to provide on-the-spot creative solutions to problems posed by passers by. In the audio, we hear the participant’s creative challenge is ‘I need to make more money’. Other moments include soundbites from Zulu’s famous Say No To Spec video, sound clips from an interview with Forbes Magazine and some non-sensical gibberish from Frank Zulu (the fictional CEO who stars in Zulu’s website). The video closes on a Zulu logo painted by one of Zak’s kids while we hear his son calling to say goodnight as the team prepared for a big presentation circa 2008.

“There are so many memories and emotions tied up within those walls,” said Zak Mroueh. This video is our way of saying goodbye and moving on, not just to the office we grew up in but a way of working we’ll probably never return to.” 

Zulu opened its doors at 260 King in 2008 with 5,000 square feet. As the agency grew, the office grew with it, eventually expanding to 27,000 square feet.

The agency is now focused on the future, having recently purchased a building in one of Toronto’s up and coming East end neighbourhoods. The new location will serve as a hub as Zulu adopts a hybrid model which will see staff dividing their time between home and the office.

“Our new space will continue to be the heart and soul of Zulu. Knowing we won’t all be together every single day has freed us up to design an even better place for our team to collaborate,” said Zak. “Our vision is to make the new space feel more like a creative playground than a traditional office. It will be designed as a place where people want to hang out, feel more inspired and not just sit at a desk.”