CREATIVE Q&A: M&C Saatchi Hong Kong's Bernard Chan

How did you get into advertising?

I joined a small local agency that did nothing but car ads. I had zero experience and they were the only agency who would hire me. By the time I left, I knew how to describe a car from bumper to bumper with most grandiose prose you can imagine, and little else. 

What was your first ever ad?

A half-page black and white car ad. I can’t remember which brand. Yes, it’s that memorable.

What was your first ever job?

When I first came back to HK from Canada, I worked the night shift in a forex company taking buy and sell orders on the phone. The shift was 9pm-4am. It was a relief when the company was shut down after a couple of months because the owner had just absconded with the company funds. That guy still owes me my second month’s salary.  

What was your worst job ever?

Same as above.

What does it take to impress you?

Lots and lots of grey matter.  

Where do you go to be inspired?

To bed. Nothing clears the brain and invites good ideas in like a little shut-eye.

If you can spend one day with a celebrity or historical figure, who would it be? Why?

Miles Davis. That is one cool dude. His creative appetite was insatiable.

What is your guilty pleasure?

Trashy crime novels.

If you have to come back as an animal, what would you be? Why?

A peregrine. I once watched a documentary where this peregrine zoomed across the sky and literally intercepted its prey in mid-flight. Awesome.

What is the last book you read?

The Winter Of Our Discontent, by John Steinbeck

Which ad do you wish you had made?

Apple’s “Think Different”, probably the last great TV script ever written before the art of copywriting died altogether. These days, you can’t write more than 2 words for an ad without people looking at you like you’ve lost your marbles.

Worst haircut you’ve ever had?

I’ve never had a “worst haircut” since I don’t allow hairstylists to experiment with my head. Lots of bad-hair days though.

Describe your typical day.

Meeting, staring at the ceiling waiting for the big idea to show up, meeting, meeting, more ceiling-gazing . . . 

Can you suggest a question for our next Q&A candidate?

What’s the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you in a presentation?

If you can invent a superpower, what would it be? (Question provided by TBWA\Singapore’s Maurice Wee)

Someone/something that can repair all the damage that has been done to the environment.