Where's the Cliff?
May 16|2004

Cliff Freeman Hall of Fame induction

Cliff Freeman has been indicted in the hall of fame 6 times. That’s not a bad thing. He showed photos of his office, his massive Grand Prix, One Show collection, and his other hall of fame Clios. It was like an advertising award store.

THEN, they showed his reel, and that was a totally different story. If included many of my all time favorite spots like Nike’s Good vs Evil, The Budweiser Frogs, Coke’s Mean Mr. Green, 1984, the super fast talking Fedex guy, and of course, the incredible VW how does the snow plow driver get to the snowplow?

I had a great chat with Cliff. We discussed how the new generation of advertisers have lost their heart and vision. Everyone takes it for granted that the best ad in the world has already been made by him and Lee. I told Cliff, “It’s crazy, I’m not sure young people believe that they can make a better ad than 1984, or outsmart Bernbach or David.” Cliff agreed with this, and confirmed what Lee Clow had told me. All these amazing campaigns that changed brands and redefined our industry started out as little stupid advertising projects done with a passionate touch. Keep that in mind if you want to win one of those Hall of Famer Trophy yourself.