Craig Allen wrote the Skittles spot where a man accidentally murders his family with rainbow candy. He helped make the Old Spice response campaign ; 286 videos in 36 hours, one every 7 minutes, until they broke YouTube. Then he left Wieden+Kennedy, asked Dan Wieden what to call his new agency, and got told every name was stupid.

This week on Second Wind, the founder and CCO of CALLEN sits down with Gully Flowers and Kerrie Finch to talk about how to sell ideas that scare clients to death.

Inside the episode:

- Why the best risky ideas are “stupid smart” — and how to make a CMO feel dumb for not buying them

- The real story behind the Skittles Touch shoot: explosives, cops, a $$$$ glass desk filled with hundreds of thousands of real Skittles, and one PA running through the shot

- How a six-person writers’ room turned Old Spice into the fastest creative operation in advertising history

- Why Dan Wieden made him put his own name on the agency (and why it changed how he works)

- The case for fun as a strategic weapon, not a vibe

- What independent agencies have to do now that the holding cos have stopped pretending to care about creativity

Craig has won two Cannes Grand Prix, the Grand Effie, Best in Show at The One Show, two black D&AD pencils, an Emmy, and was once named one of the 50 sexiest creatives in the world by Creativity Magazine. We do not let him forget it.

Second Wind is a Webby Honoree podcast at the intersection of creativity, leadership, and advertising. Hosted by Gully Flowers and Kerrie Finch of AKA. New episodes fortnightly.

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Eric Kallman is the co-founder and chief creative officer of Erich & Kallman, the independent agency behind standout work for brands like Reese’s, King’s Hawaiian, Franzia, Toyota and more. Before that, he helped create some of the most iconic advertising of the last two decades, including Old Spice, Skittles, Little Caesars, Kayak and Ragu. Erich & Kallman was named Ad Age’s 2024 Small Agency of the Year and was later recognized as a 2025 A-List standout.

In this episode of Second Wind, Eric talks about how Old Spice almost died before it changed culture, why absurd work only works when the product truth is dead simple, and what most young creatives are skipping when they chase shortcuts. He gets into the discipline behind funny advertising, the value of silence in the creative process, why six weeks and 250 scripts used to be normal, and how AI can help if it gives creatives more time to think instead of less.

Topics include Old Spice, Skittles, creative discipline, copywriting, campaign craft, small agencies, advertising fundamentals, AI in creative work, and what it takes to make funny ads that actually sell.

Micah Walker, co-founder of Bear Meets Eagle on Fire, joins Second Wind for a sharp conversation on what it really takes to make better work.

He talks about building an agency that refuses to become a smaller version of the big networks, why caring too hard is a feature not a flaw, why the best ideas should never arrive with a safety option, and how great production turns good thinking into something people can actually feel.

This one is about creative conviction, craft, culture, and the kind of standards that make the work unforgettable.

Matt Cooper, founder of Little Black Book, joins Second Wind to talk about how LBB became the most visited creative platform in the world, why awards are becoming toxic, why the work no longer speaks for itself, and what the industry still gets wrong about reputation, craft, and growth.

We get into the rise of indie agencies like Bear Meets Eagle On Fire, why clients and agencies need more belief, how creative companies should use platforms like LBB properly, what young people misunderstand about the industry, and why Matt thinks AI is being talked about all wrong.

If you care about creativity, reputation, production, agency growth, or where the business is heading next, this one’s worth your time.

Una Walsh has spent 25 years working at the seam between what a brand promises and what a customer actually feels — from Virgin Atlantic and Nike's House of Innovation to Apple, and now as Executive Experience Design Director at Google.

In this conversation, Una and co-hosts Gully Flowers and Kerrie Finch dig into why retail has gotten boring, what brands like Nike and LOEWE are doing differently, and why the obsession with frictionless efficiency is quietly killing brand joy.

They also get into AI, craft, and why a sewing machine doesn't make you a fashion designer.

Topics covered:

– Why Virgin Atlantic was Una's first lesson in holistic brand experience

– The Nike Soho flagship: what went wrong on opening day and how they fixed it

– The retail ritual that makes the Nike shoe box moment magic

– How Google is thinking about physical retail for its devices and hardware

– "We moved from the age of information to the age of imagination" — Es Devlin

– Why creatives still need to sell their ideas, no matter how senior they get

– AI as a sparring partner, not a shortcut

Second Wind is hosted by Gully Flowers and Kerrie Finch. New episodes every other Tuesday.

Jason Sperling is the Chief Creative Officer at INNOCEAN ; and one of the creative leaders behind Apple’s legendary “Mac vs PC” campaign.

In this episode of Second Wind, Jason shares what it was really like presenting to Steve Jobs every Wednesday, surviving brutal creative cycles at TBWA\Chiat\Day, and helping turn “I’m a Mac” into one of the most influential campaigns of the century.

We also get into:

• Convincing Steve Jobs to run digital banner ads

• Writing body copy to land a job at Chiat

• The six-month grind behind Mac vs PC

• Making Honda’s Ferris Bueller Super Bowl spot

• Directing Bruce Willis after he walked off set

• Why taste matters more than tools in the AI era

• How creative leaders survive the jump from maker to manager

• The future of agencies in an AI-driven world

If you care about advertising, leadership, creative resilience, or how iconic work actually gets made — this one is for you.

David Kolbusz is Chief Creative Officer at Orchard, with a career across Droga5 London, Wieden Kennedy New York, BBH London, Goodby Silverstein, Mother, and TBWA Toronto.

In this episode, we talk about what actually makes advertising work stick. Mental hooks that live in your head. The difference between chasing culture and understanding it. And why David thinks the industry needs to be more honest about the myth we repeat, that “the work comes first.”

We also break down recent examples David loves, including a meme-driven taco ad and KitKat’s Break Squad, as a way to talk about creative restraint, timing, and leadership in modern advertising.

Kevin Frank has lived the full arc. Apple Creative Director for nearly a decade, then Executive Creative Director at LinkedIn, where he helped turn the team into Ad Age In House Agency of the Year and a two time Best Places to Work honoree.

After LinkedIn, he hit pause on the corporate grind and moved to Paris. He taught at The American University of Paris, mentored creative leaders, wrote a book on leading creative teams, and even joined an Elvis cover band, because why not.

We talk about what it means to lead creatives when nobody teaches you how, how craft survives inside massive systems, how to build a team that runs like a machine without losing its soul, and what a real reset looks like when you have the courage to take one.