Paul Nagy: The ad that brought me from Australia

Hercules, the dog from the Toyota ad.

Campaign: Toyota - "Bugger"
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi
Creative team: Howard Greive, John Plimmer, John Fisher
Reviewer: Paul Nagy, Clemenger BBDO head of copy

Several months ago I left Australia with my wife and two little girls, packing them up and flying them to New Zealand where we didn't know a soul.

Since then I've flown them all back for a funeral, spent Father's Day in the hospital here with my wife, and experienced both hurricane-like winds and an earthquake.

Yet the only thing that has impressed my dad is the fact Clemenger BBDO just hired two of the guys who did the Toyota "Bugger" ad. John Plimmer is our new senior writer and Chris Bleackley our senior art director.

There are two main reasons behind this. Firstly, my dad thinks advertising is a pretend job full of plonkers who spend their time devising evil ways to interrupt his footy.

For him to be impressed by advertising, it has to be something very special indeed, and that, of course, is the second reason. "Bugger" is special.

It's one of the main reasons why I wanted to work here, and one of the main reasons why our deputy creative director, Mark Harricks, came over five years ago. It's one of those rare pieces of communication that burrows past all our cynicisms and taps into our collective subconscious.

It's an insanely simple ad: a single word repeated over and over; a country setting; disarming talent and an execution that doesn't rely on fancy visuals. This all combines to deliver the core idea of a powerful ute with a clarity that requires no explanation. So it's not just an ad that's entertaining; it's also working hard. The squillion or so Toyotas it sold during its shift are testament to that fact.

It's also warm, unpretentious and light-hearted, yet was originally so controversial it was pulled off air here, and ran only after 8.30pm in Australia.

I guess the reason Mark and I wanted to talk about it is for affectionate reasons. It brought us here by hinting at an advertising culture that might be a little different. By its very existence it whispered of sharp creative thinking and big brands that were prepared to use it.

It kinda worked as an ad for advertising folk and, just quietly, it did a bloody good job at that too.

So, sure, I may still be getting a dozen sheep jokes on email every week and, sure, my eldest daughter is already starting to say the number "six" in a way that worries me greatly, but it's damn good to be working in a place that has many more Bugger ads in it. Damn good indeed.