interview with dan stendahl, ad at dragster

Published: 10-02-17

HELLO DAN (ART DIRECTOR AT DRAGSTER) HOW ARE YOU TODAY?

Very well. I had meatballs from Lasse På Heden for lunch today and am shortly going to Spain for some work.

WHAT’S THE BEST THING ABOUT BEING AN AD AT DRAGSTER?

Working with creative and inspiring stuff every day. And I have great colleagues.

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO WORK WITH DR DENIM?

It’s pretty tough. Gives you some form of creative anxiety and you always want to create the best stuff you’ve ever done. It’s a lot of fun to work with clients who appreciate crazy ideas. It also helps that Dr Denim have really nice and good products.

NAME ONE POOR TV COMMERCIAL AND EXPLAIN

The one that comes to mind is for Ducoral I believe. There’s this horrible woman with stomach aches who talks on the phone and all she says is mmmmm…..  mmmmm… mmmmm. Bad production, bad acting and bad idea. Makes me shiver.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE SNOW-RELATED CHAOS WE’VE SEEN LATELY?

I like the snow chaos. Every day I wish for more snow so that I can listen to Bengt Magnusson telling us not to take the car to work. I am a bit of a chaos-romantic.

WHICH DR DENIM THEME HAS BEEN THE MOST FUN TO DO?

Difficult question because they’ve all been fun. The first gave me the privilege to force semi-naked people into a lake in the middle of the winter. When we did the bug-theme, the photography faced a lot of challenges. The model theme involved meeting some rather weird individuals with wide-ranging hobbies which had probably taken over slightly too much of their lives. Right now I’m very happy with the cultivation-theme. It’s interesting to make create fashion through such an unsexy theme.

IF YOU WEREN’T DEVOTING YOUR TIME TO CREATIVITY, WOULD YOU RATHER BE AN ASTRONAUT OR CEO OF A LARGE BANK WITH A LARGE BONUS COMING YOUR WAY?

I would never be a good astronaut, I’m not that clever. I wouldn’t mind being a jeansmaker… I love jeans and it seems to be enjoyable. The bank-job wouldn’t suit me because I have a strong dislike of trousers with pleats down the legs.