John Gabor Szalay

Ever since I was a kid I was drawn toward advertising. I remember watching commercials and thinking there had to be ways to make them more impactful, less boring, and funnier. Not to give the wrong impression, I also spent a lot of time with LEGO and art supplies.

Cut to today. I mostly lean towards humor in my work. It’s proven to disarm and make the mind more open to suggestion. I do know it isn’t always the most effective way to connect with people, though, so you’ll see an array of tones, execution styles & concepts on my site.

As a CD, I use humor to connect with clients and motivate teams.

Every brand is different, but I strongly believe they all need to be relatable, memorable, and culturally relevant no matter what you’re selling. This David Ogilvy quote from a 1960’s WSJ print ad has resonated with me through my whole career, “You cannot bore people into buying your product - you can only interest them in buying it.”

I’m a first generation American child of Hungarian immigrants, who grew up in Southern California and lived in San Francisco, Budapest, and New York, before putting down roots in Richmond, Virginia to raise a family. I’m a 3.5 tennis player, try to make my three daughters laugh with thoughts more sophisticated than dad jokes, and captained Martin’s mildly successful bocce teams for years. My favorite color is turquoise.

I openly admit my Instagram feed has way too many photos of clouds - mr_szalay.