BBDO x PIZZA HUT

The Moment I Knew I Was in the Big Leagues

Account Executive to Account Supervisor, BBDO New York. My final interview at BBDO was with John Berg, the youngest EVP in the agency’s history. Snow was falling outside his wraparound office windows, the red neon of Radio City glowing through the storm behind him. It felt cinematic. New York in full effect.

“This account is a beast,” he told me.
“You’ll be exposed for everything you don’t know.”

“I’m in.”

I had just moved to New York, and in that moment, I knew I had arrived exactly where I was supposed to be.

Inside the Machine

BBDO was my first true exposure to operating inside a massive, high-performance system.

The Pizza Hut account structure alone was intense:
one SVP, multiple Account Executives, Assistant AEs, producers, strategists, media teams, creatives, and production partners all moving simultaneously across overlapping national campaigns.

The business itself was segmented with precision.

One AE oversaw corporate advertising. Another managed Stuffed Crust and The Edge. I led launches including The Sicilian and The Big New Yorker while also partnering with International on promotional initiatives.

It was relentless.

And we loved it.

We managed a $120MM budget, turned around broadcast production weekly, and supported simultaneous national campaigns without blinking.

The machine never slowed.

The Work That Actually Performed

We launched The Big New Yorker, which became the most successful product launch in company history, driving a 17% sales lift.

We produced Super Bowl spots and worked alongside legendary creative talent, directors, editors, producers, agents, and celebrities ranging from Spike Lee to John Turturro.

But while everyone celebrated the glossy brand work, I became fascinated by something else.

The high-frequency retail spots.
The food-forward ads.
The work many creatives quietly dismissed.

That was the work driving volume.

So instead of avoiding it, I leaned in.

Elevating the Everyday

I rallied younger creatives around a simple idea:
if this work performs, it deserves the same rigor as the prestige campaigns.

We tightened scripts.
Sharpened edits.
Obsessed over pacing, appetite appeal, and product detail.

Every cheese pull and bite-and-smile became a hero moment.

Pizza Hut CMO Sean Gleason jokingly nicknamed me “The Prince of Pop” because the retail work consistently cut through.

That instinct stayed with me.

The flashiest work is not always the most important.

The work that performs always is.

The Last Great Agency Era

This was the final stretch of traditional agency dominance before digital fragmented the industry.

Big budgets.
Massive productions.
Blockbuster launches.
Creative ambition at full scale.

We worked relentlessly and celebrated just as hard.

Fridays often ended at Central Filing, the hidden in-house agency bar where friendships were built that still anchor my life today.

When I joined, Pizza Hut was considered a grind account.

By the time I left, it had become one of the most sought-after assignments in the building.

The work improved.
The perception shifted.
The energy changed.

That mattered.

Takeaway

BBDO was my first true exposure to scale, production complexity, and high-stakes client trust.

It taught me how to earn access, build momentum, and understand what actually moves a business.

Most importantly, it taught me that performance lives in the details.

Elevate the everyday, and the numbers follow.

It became the foundation for everything that came next.