Live and learn

This month's F*ckUp Nights Tampa Bay featured stories from four advertising industry executives who say messing up helped them get to where they are today. The following are excerpts from their stories:

Rob McCormick
Vice president and creative director,
Schifino Lee Advertising & Branding
McCormick says his biggest mess-up was when he tried too hard to become viral. McCormick sought attention for a company that creates flushable dog poop bags.
McCormick came up with an idea to dress up like a dog, and make a video series of the inappropriate dog walking around with his (human) best friend.
Unfortunately, the videos were a bit of a flop. “If we learn nothing more, don't do viral videos,” McCormick says. Instead, you have to go in being smart about content. If it's good, it may go viral.

Alex Abell
Senior marketing strategist, Bisk
Abell says he didn't just mess up on one campaign, “I f*cked up my life.”
Abell considers himself a serial “funtrepreneur” — he started three businesses before college. But that's nothing to brag about, he adds, because it took him eight years to get his four-year degree.
One of those businesses was Dear Drunk Me — a website that encouraged young adults to get drunk and then leave themselves messages online. In addition to the website, he had a retail shop that sold everything from T-shirts with slogans like “I heart to fart” to marijuana bongs. The pivotal moment for him was when his grandma was in town and wanted to see his shop. He didn't want to show her.
The whole operation was funded on credit cards, and Abell quickly ran out of money and was forced to declare bankruptcy. “You have to think about what you are putting out into the world,” he says.