In 2007, I had my first idea for an ad:

Set to the tune of “Whoop, there it is!” Campbell’s cans would put on a performance worthy of an off-broadway run—chunks of chicken noodle and split pea splashing about in an organized fashion, creating a deliciously choreographed feast for the senses. I acted it out for my family. It was delightfully terrible, and they loved it. They laughed and sang “Soup, there it is!” and brought it up occasionally at dinners for the next 15 years.

You can imagine how I felt in 2020 when not one, but two different brands did their own rendition of that song—one of them being for diapers. My “brilliant” idea was quite literally shat on—and I was singing along. My dad saw it and said, “wow Pris, you could’ve been a millionaire.” Yes, a lot to unpack there. But my biggest takeaway was realizing how insignificant the work could truly be. Almost any brand could take that song and create their version of it, and the general US public would sing along to it, say “ooh, I love that commercial,” and forget it ever existed 6 seconds later. 

I learned a few things that day.
1. Everyone has “bad” ideas.
2. A lot of people like those “bad” ideas.
3. If the quality of an idea is subjective, then everything is on the table. 

This realization set the foundation for my entire creative process:
Always say your bad ideas out loud.
You never know who will buy them.