A Walking Advert

By @EytanDGSmithI change other people’s behaviour. Picture this: yesterday I was on an underground platform standing intimately close to my male date. We were on the tender precipice of kissing when I suddenly became aware of all the eyes on the platform zooming in on us. One woman was even leaning over to get a better view. What a pervert.I have chosen to go into advertising as a career, which is in pure form the communication of a message designed to change behaviour. It’s a bit like what Richard Jacobs (a master of storytelling) said today: “in order to change behaviour you must create a shift in understanding or perspective”. That reminds me of Ghandi, who tells us that the best way to create this shift is to embody the change you seek. In other words, if I wish to change the behaviour of those around me, I must change my own and set an example.Therefore I am a walking advert. I am an advert, or brand ambassador for gay romance. I think that all the ambassadors for straight romance have an easier job due to the saturated market they work in. But what if I could make gay romance more visible and familiar, rather than foreign and fascinating? Surely then I would have made a shift in perspective that changed the behaviour of those around me?Whilst this brief to change other people’s perspective was more like a brief that landed on my desk than one I chased after, I think its safe to say we managed to get some rebranding done.