We don't Kick The Pig anymore

Image courtesy of Tomas


Kick The Pig was a game we played in the creative department of one of the 90’s hot shops. The Pig was a large, stuffed toy rescued from a dumpster, and the goal was to see who could kick it the furthest.

Back then, we’d often work late, but really, it was more like we were waiting late. Waiting for the ad muse to arrive and spur us into a flash of concept creation. And while we waited… we’d Kick The Pig.

Now, at the risk of ending up like the dog in the Kurt Vonnegut story, who is torn to pieces by the other dogs for revealing that the entire canine species can, in fact, speak English, I am going to let slip a secret about creative inspiration: it is not 100% magic. It might not even be 50%.

It turns out you don’t have to wait for inspiration, you can actually chase it down. There’s a process to this thing – and it’s only a process, not a machine – that helps turn up a wide variety of ideas quickly. We’ve been using it with our clients for a while now, and it works.

We will never again Kick The Pig. Who has the time?