Jerry Smith Interview

Words by Callum Ritchie

Everyone loves a soppy redemption story on LinkedIn right? Well, this is one of the slightly more bizarre ones. Morty's long term unemployed father, Jerry Smith has found himself bouncing back into the advertising industry via LinkedIn and getting himself hired as creative director at gaming agency, DDB FTW.

His profile comes stacked with eager connections, a professional portfolio and plenty of conversations about his life at large. The unexpected advertising agent has since decided to pursue an alternative career path in bee keeping but he certainly hasn't gone unnoticed in this space with lots of attention from large brands and agencies alike.

So here goes, a completely out of this world article and hopefully one of the more interesting LinkedIn reads from your daily scroll...

For those who don’t know, who are you?

'I’m Jerry Smith, the creative mind behind the famous campaign “Hungry for Apples?” and father of Morty Smith, who recently starred the film SPERMS, also directed by me.'

How did your career in advertising start?

'Initially it wasn’t planned. It was after college when I discovered that I was made for advertising. I’ve always been creative but I never knew that you could actually get paid for it. Then I met my mentor Mr. Marklovitz who introduced me into the industry and gave me my first job at his ad agency Haas & Milan.'

How did you get hired for your role at DDB?

'After years struggling to get a job again I decided to try it via social media. I don’t know how exactly but the whole industry started to support me immediately. Then I received some very cool job offers and even got the chance to be jury at some of my fav award shows. I guess having an Appley Grand Prix helped a lot.'

What did your role at DDB involve?

'Inspire people just being myself. Sometimes creatives tend to overthink and my simple and powerful approach to the brief is just the opposite. Being there you could say I didn’t do anything, but I did everything.'

I’ve seen you’ve been up for some awards too. Congratulations! What are your thoughts on awards in advertising?

'Oh they are the best. Local ones, global ones, awards specifically for certain products… everything. The best day in my entire life was the day I won at Appley Awards. Can’t wait to win an award again.'

What do you think of Rick and Morty's advertising adventures with Old Spice?

'It certainly could be nominated for an award for commercials specifically about Old Spice. Like an Old Spicey or something.'

I also see you’ve recently reconnected with Mr. Marklovitz, are you guys friends and is there a collaborative project in the pipeline?

'As he usually says: Yes!'

Any advice for aspiring creative directors who might be stuck in a rut?

'The milk people don’t have a pattern on simple rhetorical questions. Never, ever forget that. Print it and put it in your desk if necessary.'

How’s the beekeeping going?

'Awesome, it has changed my life. I can’t wait to combine my creative skills with beekeeping. It’s like being client and agency at the same time, endless possibilities and award shows to win.'

What’s next for Jerry Smith?

'Take care of my bees and keep making creative stuff. I’ve already started to write the first episode of my puppet show in collaboration with Birdperson and I’ll be busy during the next months directing SPERMS II. Oscars here I go! Cheers.'

Whether this will make it back into the Rick and Morty's storyline in form we don't yet know but I guess there's only one more question to ask at this point...are we in a simulation?

Connect with Jerry Smith on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerrysmithcreative/