Los Angeles, December 30th, 2019

Ben Kay spent over twenty years making creative work for big brands, developing non-profit ventures and leading creative novels. But last year he and his wife decided to create their own agency with a different concept.

Invincible Unicorn is an ethical advertising agency.

Their main goal is making sure companies that are doing good can communicate to their customers as effectively as possible.

They have worked so far with California Cloth Foundry, Fair Trade LA and the Climate Music Project, among many others.

In an interview with TIA, Kay described what it means being part of an ethical agency and the type of work they do. At the same time, he went back to his origins as a copywriter and his influential mentors.

As Creative Director at Invincible Unicorn, what tasks you work on a currently basis?

I don’t really have one because I juggle Invincible Unicorn with freelancing and the climate crisis initiative I started with my wife: Gigantic Fucking Solutions. The three strands give me different priorities each day.

Growing up, when did you realize that you could do copywriting?

English was my best subject at school, and my mum was a copywriter. And my dad was a journalist. So pretty early. When I was about ten, I remember being given an assignment at school to advertise so that people would stop dropping litter. I recall my solution to this day: Mr. Bin would come to life and sing the following lines: When you’ve got some litter, look for Mr. Bin. Open up his mouth and put your litter in. A true classic.

What’s essential in order to create a good story?

Getting whoever is experiencing it to want to know what happens next.

You’ve been able to shape so many brands in your career, but what mistake have you seen from companies trying to stay relevant?

Using too much digital when the old-school media channels have so much more swagger.

Invincible Unicorn claims to be an ethical agency. Please describe what an ethical agency does

We have three tenets: we produce ethical advertising (we don’t lie, exaggerate or use unrealistic body images, or anything else that makes people feel bad about themselves); we produce advertising on behalf of ethical clients (this is work out on a case by case basis, but B Corps are generally at the standard we look for); and we operate ethically ourselves (we are a B Corp. We practice ethical principles in hiring, payment, environmental responsibility etc.).

What’s the biggest misconception people have about an ethical agency?

Most people think advertising is inherently unethical, so how can you have ethical advertising? But of course, you can. It just means refusing to do it in a way that harms people and/or the planet.

As one of the companies that have taken a pledge on “The Future is Calling”, what are Invincible Unicorn’s initiatives?

Our entire agency is run from the perspective of being accountable to the environment. My wife and IU CEO are very involved with supporting The Future Is Calling.

We read on your post about diversity that “advertising needs ethnic diversity in all its forms”. How do you manage different cultures to build teams that match businesses?

We always look to hire people of different genders and ethnic backgrounds, and to find them locally. But we’re small, so we don’t hire that many people!

And when writing about how the internet hasn’t made advertising any better, you stated that the people of 1995 were better at coming up with ideas than nowadays. How do you encourage creative thinking at the agency without leaning too much on the internet?

Most of the creative thinking is mine, so I don’t really need to encourage myself. The older I get, the easier it is to reach good solutions quickly, and I rarely look for those solutions online.

Any thoughts on brands looking to define their brand voice on Social Media?

Get off social media and use billboards instead.

In this industry or in life, have you had any particular mentor?

Loads: Dave Trott, Dave Dye, Mark Denton, Walter Campbell… I’ve also had the privilege of working with and learning from Lee Clow and David Abbott, but far too briefly.

What would you place in a time capsule to represent the best of our age?

If you mean advertising, maybe a set of D&AD annuals. Maybe… Otherwise, a statue of Greta Thunberg.

Thanks Ben!

Learn more about Ben Kay

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