On My Radar: Megan Brotherton
Thinking Machine director Megan Brotherton admires Ontario's recent ad campaign, is glad her "geriatric sneakers" are finally trendy, and wishes for a bit more courage in the creative community.
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What’s the most creative advertising idea you’ve seen recently?
I don't know about creative but the last ad that made my jaw drop was Ontario's anti-tariff ad. It was ballsy and effective.
What website(s) do you use most regularly?
YouTube. I use it for research all the time, and recently the algorithm has gotten better at sucking me in and distracting me with clips of my favourite comedians or interviews with directors that I admire.
What’s the most recent piece of tech that you’ve bought?
My husband bought an LED light for our vacuum cleaner that lights up dust and dirt and it's pretty life changing.
What product could you not live without?
Comfortable sneakers, and my orthotics. It's an amazing coincidence that Hokas are so trendy now because I've been wearing geriatric sneakers since high school.
What’s the best film you’ve seen over the last year?
Marty Supreme is really excellent.
What film do you think everyone should have seen?
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. The casting, writing and comedic timing are just about perfect. They don't make comedies like that anymore.
What’s your preferred social media platform?
TikTok has the funniest social commentary and it feels like YouTube and Meta are just trying to keep up with it.
What’s your favourite TV show?
I don't remember. I have two small kids.
What’s your favourite podcast?
Nothing beats Terry Gross interviews on Fresh Air, but I've recently started listening to Search Engine, and it's really great. They deep dive into a variety of interesting subjects and it's a refreshing break from the news podcasts I listen to.
What have you been most inspired by recently?
The people of Minnesota.
If you could only listen to one music artist from now on, who would it be?
One artist? Impossible. I live for variety and am way too moody to listen to the same artist every day.
If there was one thing you could change about the advertising industry, what would it be?
I wish everyone could be more fearless. Agencies less fearful of their clients, clients less fearful of taking risks. There is so much creativity to be realised if we could free ourselves from some of that fear.
Who or what has most influenced your career?
That's tough to narrow down. I've had great mentors in the last few years, who taught me a lot about the advertising industry. My sense of humour and POV as a director was deeply informed by my upbringing (I'm the middle child of a big, kinda Catholic family, in which laughing was essential), and my sense of storytelling was really shaped by my teachers at the Moscow Art Theatre in grad school. They gave me the encouragement and space to experiment and discover my voice as a director.
What scares you the most?
The current administration.
What makes you happiest?
My kids.
Tell us one thing about yourself that most people wouldn’t know.
I wrote my college thesis on terrorism in Pakistan, and my advisor encouraged me to pursue a career in the CIA.
