Agency Launches World’s First ‘Client Palate Cleanser’ After Months of Brief-Induced Numbness
After an exhaustive internal review and 46 hours of agency-wide ideation workshops titled ‘Refinding the Why,’ Wellington-based creative agency Gherkin & Voss has unveiled what it claims is the advertising world’s first ‘Client Palate Cleanser.’
The initiative, which launches this week, was born out of what staff have described as an increasing inability to tell the difference between a good idea and a PowerPoint animation. “After the third FMCG pitch in two weeks where we rhymed ‘snack’ with ‘attack,’ we just... went sideways,” said Strategy Director Dana Colquitt, her eye twitching slightly. “I started describing things as having ‘authenticity essence.’ We knew we’d hit rock bottom.”
At its core, the Client Palate Cleanser functions as an internal reset button. The current version involves sending creatives to a remote hut in Upper Hutt where they're made to watch a looped 90s New Zealand Lotto ad until they weep. This is followed by a mandatory two-hour ceramics class hosted by Brett from Procurement, and a curated tasting menu of small, unrelated tasks, including crafting three print headlines for a fictional brand of barley water and writing an apology letter to their Year 12 English teacher.
Reaction has been mixed. Some copywriters report feeling “reintegrated with visual metaphor,” while others question the efficacy of the bootleg kombucha served during reflection circles. The agency maintains it’s a net positive, with post-cleansing briefs showing a 14% increase in metaphors involving jazz, trees and/or albatrosses. Gherkin & Voss is currently working on a client-side version, possibly involving interpretive dance and a blindfolded journey through the Warehouse stationery aisle.
The initiative, which launches this week, was born out of what staff have described as an increasing inability to tell the difference between a good idea and a PowerPoint animation. “After the third FMCG pitch in two weeks where we rhymed ‘snack’ with ‘attack,’ we just... went sideways,” said Strategy Director Dana Colquitt, her eye twitching slightly. “I started describing things as having ‘authenticity essence.’ We knew we’d hit rock bottom.”
At its core, the Client Palate Cleanser functions as an internal reset button. The current version involves sending creatives to a remote hut in Upper Hutt where they're made to watch a looped 90s New Zealand Lotto ad until they weep. This is followed by a mandatory two-hour ceramics class hosted by Brett from Procurement, and a curated tasting menu of small, unrelated tasks, including crafting three print headlines for a fictional brand of barley water and writing an apology letter to their Year 12 English teacher.
Reaction has been mixed. Some copywriters report feeling “reintegrated with visual metaphor,” while others question the efficacy of the bootleg kombucha served during reflection circles. The agency maintains it’s a net positive, with post-cleansing briefs showing a 14% increase in metaphors involving jazz, trees and/or albatrosses. Gherkin & Voss is currently working on a client-side version, possibly involving interpretive dance and a blindfolded journey through the Warehouse stationery aisle.