Great ideas come out while I’m watching TV. I guess it’s because I see so many crappy commercials and say. “I can do better.” And, then I think to myself, “Hey, I’m in advertising. I should go ahead and do better.”

Then I apply whatever technique I would recommend to the crappy ad and apply it to my current project and voila (BTW, don’t buy the Voila! frozen dinner from Birdseye)— I’ve got brilliance.

A few agencies ago, I told my Creative Director about how I’m much more awesome when I’m watching TV, so he let me watch TV. But, then after a few hours he’d be like, “So? What did you come up with while I was paying you to watch TV?” And that just killed the flow. Once TV watching is a systematic piece of the creative process, it ceases to inspire greatness.

Lesson learned? Watch TV (or Hulu) at work. If you get busted, take the bullet. Don’t tell people where your brilliance comes from.

- Joh nHuggins