Andy Azula

Andres "Andy" Azula (born July 5, 1966) is a creative director for The Martin Agency,cite journal
url=http://www.kennesaw.edu/arts/flourish/flourish_4-1/flourish_4-1-andy_azula.htm
title=Creativity on the Fly
publisher=Kennesaw State University
first=Cheryl Anderson
last=Brown
volume=4
issue=1
year=2006
month=Summer] who achieved notoriety after starring in a series of advertisements he created for the United Parcel Service in which he draws on a whiteboard.cite web
url=http://www.slate.com/id/2164266/
title=Back to the Drawing Board
first=Seth
last=Stevenson
publisher=Slate
date=2007-04-16] [cite web
url=http://www.adweek.com/aw/creative/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003559703
title=On the Spot: Martin's Azula
first=Richard
last=Williamson
publisher=Adweek
date=2007-03-19] [cite web
url=http://www.suntimes.com/business/lazare/279624,CST-FIN-lew02d.article
title=UPS ad does the white thing
first=Lewis
last=Lazare
publisher=Chicago Sun Times
date=2007-03-02] The ads were directed by Errol Morris.

Early life and education

Azula was born the son of parents who are natives of Colombia. He grew up in Thousand Oaks, California, but relocated to Florida while he was in high school. After attending a local community college and working for a paste-up artist in Orlando, Azula attended Kennesaw State University, graduating in 1990. Afterwards, he spent two years studying advertising at the Portfolio Center in Atlanta. [http://www.boomerlifemagazine.com/Pages/BoomerFunQAAndyAzula.php]

Professional career

Azula began his career at Leoffler Ketchum Mountjoy. He won awards for his work on North Carolina Travel and Tourism. He later worked at Fallon McElligott in Minnesota where he developed the Buddy Lee campaign for Lee Jeans. He also worked at Goodby Silverstein and Partners and McCann Erickson in San Francisco, creating advertising campaigns for Microsoft. His accounts have also included BMW, Budweiser, E-Trade, and MSN. His work has won him a number of Clio Awards, the advertising industry’s highest honor.

UPS commercials

As the ad agency's creative director, Azula created a demo tape for the UPS commercials that he sent to Morris. Then, Morris cast professional actors in the same role but told Azula that he liked Azula in that role. Ultimately, focus groups hired by the ad agency said they preferred Azula in that role over any of the professional actors. [http://www.boomerlifemagazine.com/Pages/BoomerFunQAAndyAzula.php]

Azula has received some criticism for his UPS Whiteboard advertisements involving accusations that he is aided by computer generated animations in some commercials and that his hairstyle and clothing choice are borderline unprofessional for such a well-known corporation as UPS. Despite these complaints from some viewers and commercial watchdogs, Azula remains one of the top advertisement masterminds of the 21st Century.

Personal

Azula and his art director wife, Sharon, live in Midlothian, Virginia, just outside Richmond. The couple met while both were attending the Portfolio Center in Atlanta. They have twins -- one boy and one girl.

References

External links

* [http://www.whiteboard.ups.com UPS Whiteboard]