On My Radar: Carl Sundemo

What’s the most creative advertising idea you’ve seen recently?

One would be my two daughters' well-executed, next-level gas lighting campaigns for staying up past bedtime. Another is Telstra’s series of 26 stop-motion spots, directed by Jeff Low, masterfully balances craftsmanship with the non-argument, “better is better”. This is stupid where I want it to be.

What website(s) do you use most regularly?

Timanderic.com. I watch for a couple of minutes before making any stressful phone call.

What’s the most recent piece of tech that you’ve bought?

A soldering iron to name-tag things. 

What product could you not live without?

The digital deck. My job would be so annoying if we had to go back to printed treatments backed in shiny folders (which, in reality, is a digital deck too, but you get the idea). 

What’s the best film you’ve seen over the last year?

La Chimera (2023), by Alice Rohrwacher. This dreamy, dirty, Italian 90s vibe film about a guy with a mystical gift for finding long-sealed tombs will take you away from your worries for about two hours.

What film do you think everyone should have seen?

Songs From The Second Floor (2000), by Roy Andersson. This man's work achieves the impossible: being existential and funny at the same time.

What’s your preferred social media platform?

That’s not an option for me to have. The social media platforms know what I prefer. 

What’s your favourite TV show?

I can recommend diving into music producer Rick Rubin’s white painted creative process in the short series Shangri-La (2019). And Rick's book, The Creative Act – A Way of Being (2023), is a timeless gem.

What’s your favourite podcast?

I just discovered Bagley Talks to an Important Person, in a recent interview with the amazing Craig Allen. This interview with the person behind the best ads in the history of advertising - Skittles Midas Touch and Old Spice The Man Your Man Can Smell Like - will be mandatory course materials in ad schools:

What have you been most inspired by recently?

I rewatched Charlie Kaufman’s BAFTA speech. Kaufman is my spirit animal. He proves that truth and entertainment can have an interesting child together. 

If you could only listen to one music artist from now on, who would it be?

Daniel Johnston. His desperation, melodies and voice tear me up. The documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2006) is not a bad introduction to his work. RIP.

If there was one thing you could change about the advertising industry, what would it be?

Make craft and risk more popular. 

Who or what has most influenced your career?

First, Jim Elfving (Forsman & Bodenfors), my longtime collaborator, former directing partner and close friend, whom I met in ad school 20 years ago. His not-healthy drive for greatness has sculpted me to the man I see in the mirror every day, day after day. And then there’s the already-mentioned Dr Craig Allen (Callen). Without him, I wouldn’t have a gold standard for what advertising can aspire to, nor would I have a US career. If Craig and the brains at Callen hadn’t entrusted me with Liquid Death’s Loving Homes for Plastic, you wouldn't have been reading this text... who knows what you had been up to.