Why is Your Name Upside Down?

Don't do things that people will remember. Do things that people will never forget. Like eating a fishing worm to make a point.

Why is Your Name Upside Down? is a collection of hilariously entertaining stories from award-winning creative director David Oakley's adventures in advertising. For over 25 years, David has been creating provocative brand stories and experiences that people want to share. From starting his own agency with the biggest presidential campaign blunder in history to smashing a car with a giant muffin, David's stories are a rollicking good read.

These stories go well beyond advice to the young advertising professional. Even people who hate advertising will love learning how to make peace with the "Celine Dion curse," how a ping-pong table bought from a drug dealer can cure your writer's block, and how to deal with a celebrity spokesman who insists on destroying your client's product.

If for nothing else, you should read, Why is Your Name Upside Down? just to find out why Oakley is upside down in the BooneOakley logo.


At least once a week, someone comes to the front door of the agency to tell us that our sign is upside down. And they want to know why. So David tells them the story.

The advertising business is a story telling business. Every day, our job is to tell brand stories. In the form of TV commercials, radio spots, digital content and even billboards. The ads we create are often a story themselves. But behind these ads are a lot more stories. Relationship stories. Sad stories. Happy stories. Funny stories. Dumb stories.

This book is a collection of stories that David loves telling. And it's his way of sharing some of the lessons these stories have taught him.

So why is his name upside down? Because it gets noticed, it's memorable and people talk about it. At least that's what he tells people. It certainly makes a good story.