Creative Minds: Why Lyndon Christie wants a store-closing stunt etched in the client hall of fame

Name: Lyndon Christie
Origin: Muswellbrook, NSW, Australia
Places lived/worked: Sydney, Melbourne – Australia
Pronouns: He/him

CV:

• Copywriter, Leo Sydney (Mar 2025 – present)
• Copywriter / Social Creative, Ogilvy Sydney (Mar 2022 – Mar 2025)
• Copywriter, Now We Collide Sydney (Feb 2021 – Mar 2022)
• Account Executive, Traffik Sydney (Jun 2019 – Feb 2021)

1. How did you end up being a creative?

I kicked things off with a grad programme at Clemenger BBDO. I tried suiting up for the first 18 months but kept getting into trouble for sneaking my own headlines into decks. After a few light warnings, I applied for AWARD School, and I’ve never looked back!

2. What's your favourite piece of work in your portfolio?

'Meet Me at the Coke Sign'. Last year, in a previous role, I took on the ultimate Sydney-centric brief: How does Coca-Cola celebrate 50 years of their iconic Kings Cross sign?

It sent the team and me on a journey to uncover some legendary stories about the area and what the sign means to local people—and even people abroad.

So far, my time at Leo Australia has also been super rewarding. My favourite piece of work? Introducing the NRL world to “Boots Cloke”, the North Queensland Cowboys’ new teamwork coach. It’s a social series we created for Suncorp Insurance, featuring NRL legend Johnathan Thurston and a bunch of NRL and NRLW players. Filming in Townsville and getting a behind-the-scenes view of how a footy club works was a real thrill for the footy fan in me.

3. What's your favourite piece of work created by someone else?

'#OptOutside' for REI (a retailer for outdoor gear). It’s almost 10 years old, but it’s one of those "what if" ideas that had a 99.9% chance of getting killed in the first brainstorm. Like, as if a client would buy an idea as financially backwards as shutting down every single store for a day. But the client fully bought it, backed it all the way, and turned it into an idea that still resonates today.

4. What's on your bucket list?

I want my age to match the number of countries I’ve visited. I’m 32 with 29 stamps in my passport, so I need a few speed runs through Eastern Europe to get back on track.

5. Tell us about the worst job you ever had.

I used to work in the art department on Channel Seven’s soap opera, Home and Away. One day, I was asked to play a dead body that had washed up on the beach. I spent the whole day lying under a tarp, dead still. And I didn’t even win a Logie for it.

6. Do you have any secret or odd talents?

It’s hardly a secret, but five years ago I started a side hustle on Instagram called 'The Deni Dictionary'. Part meme page, part collection of my take on Aussie slang, it’s become a kind of living, breathing portfolio—and a pretty lively hobby.

7. What would you do on your perfect day?

Firstly, I’d be in some corner of Australia I’ve never been to—somewhere like Broken Hill or Cunnamulla. Then I’d go for a run, find a local coffee shop, and try whatever cake the locals are ordering. Then I’d have two cold schooners at their local bowling club, followed by a nap. Then back to the Bowlo for happy hour and challenging the locals for the pool table.

8. Tell us about an artist (any medium) that we've probably never heard of.

Need to shout out Luke Player, a great Aussie artist who nails tea towel nostalgia. Also, Avishai Cohen. He’s a masterful double bass player, and his album Continuo is my thinking music.

9. What's your favourite GIF/meme, and why?

The Succulent Chinese Meal guy. It’s got everything: a killer script, beautifully directed, plus about 10 different rumours about what actually happened on that fateful day. The whole thing belongs in the National Film and Sound Archive.

10. What's your guilty pleasure?

Watching early 2000s WWE highlight reels. It’s such gorgeous garbage—complete theatrical trash. It’s my version of Love Island. Sadly, my IG algorithm has figured this out, and it’s screwing with my productivity.

11. Tell us about a charity or cause you think needs more attention.

Lifeblood! (The Red Cross and their blood and plasma donation scheme.) It literally costs you nothing to donate, but the people who get your donation receive so much.

Source: Campaign Asia-Pacific