Pretty much every creative idea I think I’ve ever come up with was initially laughed off.
I took my kids to the Minecraft movie expecting popcorn and autopilot parenting. What I didn’t expect was a villain who bans creativity because she got laughed at once during a talent show. She’s humiliated, so she forces everyone to mine gold and punishes anyone who dares to draw.
And weirdly, I’ve worked at that company before.
The setup is ridiculous. The message isn’t. Creativity often gets shut down not because it’s bad, but because it’s unfamiliar. Because it makes someone uncomfortable. Because it looks stupid before it looks smart.
Jason Momoa’s character, “The Garbage Man,” is chaotic and bizarre. But he reminded me of exactly who I wanted to be at 15: loud, different, and free. I didn’t care if people laughed. That was the point. And somewhere along the way, most people are taught to smother that instinct.
It’s the same instinct I’ve had to actively protect in my marketing career, and especially when speaking. When I started doing talks in the UK, I leaned into self-deprecating humour because it felt honest. I made myself the punchline before anyone else could. And the result? More people listened. More people came up after to talk. Not despite the silliness, but because of it. I think vulnerability supersedes ego every time in this case.
That uncomfortable place, the one where you’re thinking, “Can I actually say this?”—is exactly where the magic happens. If it feels like too much, too strange, or too risky, you’re probably closer than you think.
Some of the best marketing ideas I’ve seen looked borderline unpitchable at first:
- Kmart’s “Ship My Pants”: A pun so juvenile it could’ve sunk the whole campaign. Instead, it went viral.
- Liquid Death: A canned water brand that looks like it belongs in a Slayer video. It’s now worth over $700M. – Their Pit Diaper campaign is a fantastic example.
- Lenovo hiring death metal band Iron Savages to create a full blown (and fucking awesome) music videoof the band singing actual reviews of their latest laptop.
I know, I know, but what about B2B Jason? Well, they are fewer and farther between, but here’s a couple that spring to mind immediately.
- Tim Washer’s The Perfect Valentine’s Day Gift from Cisco stands as pretty much my favourite example of all time. I was chatting with Tim the other day and he was kind enough to share another one he did for IBM one that never got approved (This one is perfect for the Tik Tok age)
- Adobe turned dry marketing white papers into entertaining podcasts by having Malcolm McDowell, the British actor best known for A Clockwork Orange, dramatically narrate them during commuters’ morning routines. (I totally stole this idea for LinkedIn and turned it into a holiday campaign of Influencers Reading Influencers. I can’t belive this is still live!!! (Probably the only time you’ll see Ann Handley and Jay Jay French from Twisted Sister in the same campaign)
A lost gem at LinkedIn that was never even given a chance.
Back when I was at LinkedIn, I came up with an idea called Cap Capperson—a wise old retired B2B marketer who offered timeless advice. He had this distinguished, ridiculous look—somewhere between The Most Interesting Man in the World and the Gordon’s Fisherman. We storyboarded it. Brought him to life. Had a whole creative path planned.
But the higher-ups shut it down. The reason? “He could be perceived as a real person.” I still don’t know what that meant.
It never saw the light of day. But for a few weeks, Cap Capperson was very real, and more importantly, he got people in the room thinking differently. We pushed boundaries. We created space. Even in failure, the idea worked.
That’s the quiet power of ideas that make people nervous. They stretch the edge. They change the atmosphere.
I dive deeper into this topic in my new podcast, B2Bsides. Give it a listen below.
So, what’s the weirdest idea you didn’t pitch, but wish you had? And if you have a line on where I can get a pink leather jacket with fringe, please let me know in the comments.
