There are lots of ways to get a job: write a CV, go to an interview. Or you can dress up in a dolphin suit, spend far too long making a website, and give your prospective employer a time limit in which to contact you. It seems the Dolphinator – everyone's favourite ad land-bound, Belgrade-based dolphin – chose the latter. But now the question is, did it pay off?
For those who missed it, The Dolphinator, copywriter extrodinaire and he of the migraine-inducing website, built what some are calling the most “creative job pitch” they've ever seen; a web portal complete with videos, costumes and Twitter 'fist-bumps'. Not content with just showing the world his 'mad skillz', Dolphinator called out Leo Burnett and McCann to make his job dreams a reality, rather than a magic mushroom-addled haze. And they had just days to do so.
Feeling charitable, AdNews did its part to find out if The Dolphinator could obtain gainful employment in slightly warmer seas, here in Australia. Opinion was mixed.
Leo Burnett Sydney head of talent management Sarah Palmer thought there was something credible, nay employable, about the Dolphinator.
"I love this,” Palmer said. “I’m looking forward to the Dolphinator releasing his contact form, as we’d like to know if he’d consider a swim down under."
McCann Melbourne MD Adrian Mills however, smelt something fishy.
“Leveraging the trade press as a vehicle to get the attention of the agency you want to work for is not a new strategy, but the power in it remains self-evident,” Mills said. “Still, like all candidates, until we meet him and see some more of his thinking, we respectfully decline to pitch."
So that's a maybe here. What about in Belgrade itself? AdNews doesn't know. After many failed attempts to get into contact with The Dolphinator – phone calls, bat signals, spelling his name out in mackerel on Bondi Beach – all communication went quiet.
Leo Burnett Belgrade also reached out to The Dolphinator posting a video of their resident-dolphin trainer waiting by a pool on their Facebook page.
“Dear Dolphinator,” Leos said. “This will be a long night.”
So where is The Dolphinator? Russia? Portugal? A Japanese whaling boat? Who knows. We did note that his silence coincided with the departure of another AdNews regular. You can draw your own conclusions on that.
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