This is the illustrated story of a top ad man, winner of many creative awards, whose work and agency’s growth were regularly covered by Campaign, the UK ad industry’s top magazine.
However, Alex always believed that working in the world of advertising should be fun and in these tales, there are certainly some very funny stories.
Some are about naughty sex happenings, like a client who daily watched a media director making love with a colleague on his desk. Then there’s the case of a female model, who requested Alex or his art director to make love to her in an England’s Cotswolds’ wood. Also hilarious is the night when a hotel client’s Vice President and Alex met unknowingly two prostitutes, after the Vice President had previously lectured his hotel staff on how to stop prostitutes entering hotels.
Other tales are just simply embarrassing: like the day having presented his European campaign to loads of Holiday Inns’ staff in Memphis, on leaving the stage he walked into a cupboard.
Like the day an MP who was also a client asked him for advice on buying sexy underwear for his wife.
Like the day a South London body builder helped him meet Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.
Like the evening Alex and a girlfriend were entertained in famous L.A restaurant by a property client who revealed intimate secrets of Hollywood stars to whom he had sold homes, then to notice Alex’s girlfriend had been making a note of every story, before finally discovering she was a reporter for one of America’s top gossip magazines.
But as well as many funny stories about this adman, there are also many about his staff. Like the agency Christmas parties that became legendry in the locality, perfectly illustrated by an evening, when the landlord of a pub, where one party was being held, discovered two members of the agency staff handcuffed in his bed and worst still they had thrown away the key. Another party, when some agency’s ladies performed the Follies Bergere Can Can will always be remembered by the agency male staff and three elderly locals of the pub.
These examples should give you a flavour of this memoir, that you should find a very enjoyable read and viewing.