Max Sollisch

When a pop icon gets hit in the eye with your product, you act fast.

11/16: the internet exploded when Harry Styles was struck with a Skittle while performing in LA.

The next morning my partner and I jumped into action quickly concepting a response.

Borrowing Harry’s iconic sunglasses – the ones his fans, or “Harries,” wear to his concerts – we implored Los Angelenos to:

Protect the rainbow.

Taste the rainbow.

*But please, don’t throw the rainbow.

And we did it with a full color, full page spread in the 11/19 Saturday print edition of the LA Times.

S/O to our incredible clients, who did not ask for this, but upon seeing the ad immediately agreed to give it a shot.

Also S/O to our earned media team who worked all weekend to secure over 385 media placements including features in Billboard, GQ, Huffington Post, The Independent, Upworthy, UPROXX and more.

The Today Show even dedicated 60 seconds to the ad, which ended up syndicating to nearly 100 TV stations nationwide.

In all, we racked up over 5.4 BILLION earned impressions – with a single print placement.

Turns out not print’s not dead, after all.

RECOGNITION: Cannes, Effies, One Show, NA Sabres, PR Week Global, National Addys and more.

Chewed by Yungblud. Crafted by Greg Yuna. Collected by You.

PROBLEM: The pandemic hit the gum category hard. More sheltering in place and less social outings meant less concern for fresh breath – a key purchase driver – resulting in steep sales decreases.

Coupled by the fact that our client, 5 gum hadn’t run a major brand campaign in over a decade, we’d need to do something big to introduce them to Gen Z.

SOLUTION: We partnered with Yungblud to chew one piece of gum before every performance on his 15 date 5gum-sponsored tour. Every thrill, nerve and pre-show jitter to be imprinted into each wad of gum.

Then, with the help of celeb jeweler Greg Yuna, we turned those 15 pieces of chewed gum into "The Masterpiece Collection."

100% of proceeds from the auction of the collection went to NIVA (National Independent Venues Association) through a charity partnership with eBay.

With coverage in Rolling Stone, BILLBOARD, People, NME, Adweek and more and over 5.5 BILLION earned media impressions in the first week, this campaign has been a career definer for me. Only my second assignment as a CD, this one nearly broke me. But we did it. And re-did it. And sold it. And re-sold it. Nearly every day for 8 months.

Some cool stats:

92% key message pull through

27% increase in social volume

169% increase in social engagement

And 25% increase in online sales

We turned one man’s chewed gum into another fan’s treasure. And we did it all by putting our product front and center.

(Don’t say it, don’t say it, don’t be lame, it’s so lame, pls don’t…)

…Now that’s what I call a masterpiece 😉

RECOGNITION: Effies, One Show, Art Directors Club, NA Sabres, PR Week Global and more.

IYKYK: Leveraging Fenway's Iconic "Red Seat" to Confirm Heinz' Long-Awaited Stadium Debut.

For years, Red Sox fans bemoaned the stadium's ketchup vendor, "True Made Foods." Yes, really. So much so that diehards would sneak packets of Heinz into the stadium and post photos it on Twitter as a small, yet hilarious, act of protest.

Fans' hatred of this poor brand's sugar-free condiment was so unanimous that it drew coverage in Bro Bible, The Boston Globe, OutKick and Barstool Sports, whose headline hilariously read:

"It's a Proud Day as Massholes Rebel Against the Garbage Excuse for Ketchup Being Served at Fenway."

So, when a Heinz super fan spotted a Heinz condiment cooler on their pre-season Fenway stadium tour and leaked the photo, Red Sox fans rejoiced. And Twitter erupted.

At the time, I was freelancing at Kraft-Heinz' in-house agency "The Kitchen" and thus received the all-agency 10PM brief which simply stated:

"How do we confirm the rumors that Heinz will finally be at Fenway? Drop ideas into the master deck by noon tomorrow."

Partnerless, I began googling "iconic things about Fenway." After weeding out the obvious (the green giant and the pesky pole) I stumbled on a serendipitous piece of local lore.

Turns out Hall-of-Fame Sox legend, Ted Williams, hit the longest HR ever at Fenway (502 feet) and for decades the stadium has honored him by painting the seat where his homer landed red...Heinz red. Fans come from far and wide to get a picture next to the iconic "Lone Red Seat".

JACKPOT.

I paired the simple headline, "Thanks for saving our seat" with a screen-grabbed image of the red seat and dropped my slide into the master deck before heading to bed.

I'm proud to report that of the deck's 116 other ideas – ideas from all of Heinz' agency partners – the client chose mine. And took my advice on running the ad in the sports section of The Boston Globe's Saturday edition.

The ad became an instant fan favorite and even made it to the front page of reddit, thanks to thousands of upvotes on r/MLB, r/baseball and r/redsox. It was hailed for it's insider-baseball-authenticity that spoke directly to Fenway fans, honoring their storied history.

Heinz fanatics had spoken.

"When it has to be Fenway...it has to be Heinz."

(NOTE: The Red Sox organization ended up making me write about a hundred other headlines until they'd finally approve one. Turns out they're pretty picky about brand partnerships and shared IP.)

The First Unshareable Candy Pack. So you can put you first.

The words “self-love” and “self-care” are unavoidable nowadays. Yet, according to a recent survey, the average American spends just 25 minutes a day on themselves. And nearly 2 of 3 Americans report prioritizing others over themselves.

To launch Starburst All Pink’s new “All for Me” campaign and help Americans put themselves first, we took an industry staple – the share pack – and flipped it on its head, creating the first ever unshareable pack of candy.

Partnering with safe manufacturer MyCube – and utilizing their biometric fingerprint recognition – we created highly-secure limited-edition candy packs that would only open for their owner. Then we invited fans to submit to win their own. The catch – you could only enter by confessing something you love about yourself.

RESULTS: With zero dollars in paid media, we received 635M+ earned media impressions in the first week, with coverage by DELISH, Yahoo, MSN, Hollywood Life and more. Not to mention features in Adweek, DIELINE and Ads of the World.

ROLE: Creative Director (Weber Shandwick Chicago)

DIY and R&R Go Head to Head

To promote Home Depot’s ESPN College Gameday sponsorship, my partner and I uncovered a contradiction.

The Home Depot wants you to spend your Saturday DIY-ing.

But ESPN wants you to spend it on your couch – watching football.

This tension-filled insight led us to our winning script – Projects VS. Football – which aired nationally all season long and set the pace for the rest of the campaign. BBDO’s first after winning AOR.

ROLE: Senior Copywriter (BBDO)

Unlocking access to queer stories in the face of LGBTQ+ book bannings.

Skittles is an advocate brand, not an activist brand. Which can be frustrating when the community is under attack and you, your team and your clients desperately want to fight back in a meaningful way.

So, while we, as advocates, couldn’t address the elephant in the room (book banning and anti-LGBTQ+ legislature) directly, we could do our part to counteract their mission – by making all queer literature available free of charge through a partnership with Audible and GLAAD.

Our campaign, “There’s a Story in Every Rainbow” did just that, turning our QR on pack into a virtual queer library stocked with countless banned (and not yet banned) books from queer authors around the world.

Extending the idea onto pack, we gave up our platform to queer illustrators and artists who were given nearly 100% creative liberty to transform our packaging into their own pride stories.

Then, through a series of mini-documentaries, we helped our 5 artists tell those stories, putting paid support behind them to further their influence and continue our mission of elevating queer voices and storytellers. In addition, $1 from every pride pack purchased went directly to GLAAD.

We faced backlash from the right as many brands in the pride space have recently, but we stood by the community and didn’t back down.

Shout outs due to our incredibly courageous clients. My CD partner (and tireless advocate) Emma Arnold. And to my ACDs, Andie Bowers and Kelley Bode, whose vision, drive, leadership and attention to detail shaped the look, feel and success of this project. They are stars. But please, don’t poach them.

Pep talks aren’t just for athletes.

To promote Home Depot’s ESPN College Gameday sponsorship on social – and showcase HD’s new Pickup Lockers – we created “Pickup Locker Pep Talks” featuring our GameDay talent.

From mulch calculators and product finder apps to tool rentals and how-to videos, this simple formula helped us cover it all, without putting fans to sleep.

And while the offerings varied by video, our message remained the same – Home Depot helps fans tackle projects in time for kickoff.

ROLE: Senior Copywriter (BBDO)

Giving ordinary people their own gallery of cheering fans.

Optum Health wanted to tell the story of their holistic approach to supporting the health of their patients.

Plus, they had a sponsorship with the PGA and all-time golf great, Rory McIlroy. So, naturally, that story had to include golf (and Rory).

We took the gallery of clappers at a PGA tournament out into the everyday situations, creating a fun, visual metaphor for how Optum Health supports their patients.

S/O to Leo Burnett Chicago for having me on this one. And to my brilliant art partner, Kai Foo, as well as our ECD, the legendary Kieran Ots.

Redefining “life-changing” money.

When people think of winning the lottery, they think big jackpots and eight digit payouts - life-changing money. But the average ScratchOff win is between $5 and $5000. And they’re happening thousands of times a day.

This series of award winning spots reminded Ohioans that sometimes the smallest wins can be the most transformative.

ROLE: Senior Copywriter (Marcus Thomas)

Win like a Falcon ➡️Live like a Falcon

After years of writing for The Ohio Lottery, BBDO Atlanta let me try my hand at some Georgia Lottery.

(2 state lottos down, 48 to go🤞)

This was a fun one. Cheers to Robin Fitzgerald, Jon Mueller, Derrick Ogilvie, Tamarra Michel, Heather Haley, Stacey Coker and my partner, Martin Wysor for making this happen.

ROLE: Senior Copywriter (BBDO)

Because the scariest thing on Halloween night is running out of candy.

According to a recent study, nearly half of Americans have worried about running out of candy before trick or treating ends. Yet still it happens. Every year.

To help M&M’S stand out in the crowded Halloween press season, we partnered with delivery service Gopuff to help us save Halloween. Individuals sent us an SOS, and we sent them an emergency refill of M&M’S – within the hour – ensuring that no house runs out of candy before they run out of trick or treaters.

This simple solution caught fire with press, garnering coverage from The Today Show, USA Today, People Magazine, NY Post, The SUN, Parade, Mediapost and tons more. My father in law even heard about it on the local Cleveland morning news.

We set out to dominate water cooler discussions in Middle America. And, thanks to over 100 TV and Radio syndications, our story did just that.

Barista’s blunders unlock a year supply of Caramel Cold Brew M&M’S.

M&M’S loves their sweepstakes. And baristas love misspelling your name on your coffee order. So, when I found out we’d be running a sweepstakes for our new Caramel Cold Brew flavor, it felt like an opportunity to inject a little playful tension into the mix and turn a generic sweepstakes into something a little more idea-like.

It worked. Media impressions were up over previous sweepstakes. And fan engagement was too.

Turns out it pays to have a hook. Even if it’s just for a little sweepstakes.

To sell whitefly-repellant Movento MPC to tomato farmers, we turned to its biggest detractors – whiteflies.

We had fun with this one. Not much more to say about it except props to my good friend and AD partner, Martin Wysor.

ROLE: Senior Copywriter (BBDO)

“You can’t put a price on a college education.”

Or can you?

With the price of higher education increasing year-over-year, manufacturing companies in Ohio still couldn’t find applicants. It seemed every high-schooler in the state was being fed the “Go to college or work at McDonalds” narrative.

So we challenged that narrative - hard. Poking holes in antiquated logic and making an enemy of college, the 9-5 desk job and a generally narrow-minded view of the American Dream, we did the unthinkable - we made manufacturing cool.

In addition to increasing applications to manufacturing jobs throughout the state, this integrated campaign took home our little 18 person agency’s first ever BEST IN SHOW at the 2017 Addy Awards, beating out legacy agencies 10x our size.

And more importantly, it snagged us new business from the manufacturing-adjacent initiative, Jobs Ohio, who awarded us the account with no RFP.

Check out more headlines on Instagram or at MakingOhio.com.

ROLE: CD/Copywriter (Recess Creative)

Demonstrating bias through print.

How do you confront someone with their own unconscious biases using only a static poster?

___

That was the challenge/brief my partner and I gave ourselves to promote a panel discussion our agency was hosting on the impacts of unconscious bias in the workplace.

No tricks. No gimmicky type. Just plain language stories that shatter the boxes in which we unknowingly place underrepresented people.

These posters were mailed to local colleges, agencies and corporate campuses to promote the event.

ROLE: CD/CW (Marcus Thomas)

When boring is a good thing.

My partner and I were given a photograph of a weed-free almond field and tasked with using it for a print ad to sell Alion – a pre-emergent (pro-active) herbicide – to Almond growers in California.

After bitching about how boring this pic was, we had a bit of an epiphany.

To the client’s credit, they immediately got it and were with us all the way. The print execution ended up informing some additional radio and digital assets that are currently in production.

Shout out to Jon Mueller (CD) and my partner Martin Wyser (AD) as well as the rest of the team at BBDO Atlanta for believing, as I do, that there are no boring assignments – only boring solutions.

ROLE: Senior Copywriter (BBDO)

When you want the best, you need the worst.

To promote the worst client I’ve ever worked for, I simply told the truth.

These low-budget, self-deprecating little business cards were created to promote my freelance services to CCOs, ECDs and creative recruiters.

To reinforce the message I created a custom LinkedIn banner.

RESULTS:

-My friends outside of the industry unanimously recommended I not pass them out.

-Luke Sullivan gave them a “thumbs up” emoji.

-I haven’t had a day off in 9 months ; )

Shoutout to the worst art director partner and friend, Malieka Gurrera for bringing this absurdity to life.

ROLE: CCO/Only Employee

For the glory of ads.

Insight: People in the ad industry REALLY love ads.

Sub-insight: Everyone else goes through great lengths to avoid them.

___

We put our industry’s obsession on full display to promote our annual night of ad worship - The 2020 Cleveland Addy Awards Show.

*Our ECD at Marcus Thomas split the creative department into teams to compete for this project. I was my team’s CD/writer and I’m very proud to say that of the 6 groups, our idea was the one produced.

ROLE: CD/Copywriter (Marcus Thomas)

No risk, no donation.

The selfless people at Lifebanc came to us with a crazy idea.

“Lets rappel from one of Cleveland’s highest skyscrapers to raise awareness - and funds - for organ donation.”

Our role was a bit less thrilling - collateral.

But, alas, we did our damndest. And the event was a success - everyone made it down safe and the local press came calling.

Oh, and our posters and elevator wraps took home GOLD at the Cleveland Addy’s.

ROLE: Senior Copywriter (Marcus Thomas)

Is there anything more fun than radio?

ROLE: Copywriter (Marcus Thomas)

The problem with product demo is, it relies too much on products. 

Key Bank needed an informational demo video for the rollout of their new commercial banking platform, Key Navigator. Knowing that 60+ seconds of commercial banking app demo would likely put their customers to sleep, my partner and I wrote a product demo script as much about the end user as the product itself. The result: zero sleepy customers and some new business for the agency.

Equity Trust asked for an introduction video for their new online financial offering, “myEQUITY.”

By personifying “opportunity” my partner and I helped create a character-driven narrative that would offer their clients some WHY and not just all HOW.

The result - a cute, more approachable banking video and a happy client.