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Nick Howard and Nick Stoner – known professionally as ‘The Nicks’ – are SVPs and creative directors at Leo Burnett Chicago. With Nick Howard taking art directing duties and Nick Stoner being the writer of the two, the pair have worked together for a decade, teaming up at the likes of FCB, DDB and Wieden + Kennedy, ever since meeting as interns at TRISECT. 

However, they certainly didn’t hit it off immediately.

“We definitely didn’t like each other,” they tell ��������’s Ben Conway. “On our early client calls we’d try to one-up each other introducing ourselves on the phone, which only led to confusion. We’re pretty sure most of our teammates still don’t know which one of us is which.”

Continuing their rocky start with another bump in the road, the duo’s first real collaboration as junior creatives was a Halloween campaign for Hunt’s Chili. “The headline was going to be ‘Spooky Delicious’ – then we had the genius idea to put the chilli in a cauldron (Halloween, you see). Except [Nick] Howard didn’t know how to put the chilli in the cauldron, because he’d lied about his Photoshop skills,” admits [Nick] Stoner. 

“So, there we were with a real job, a real brief, and no idea how to put the chilli in the cauldron,” he adds. “There was much distress.” 

Since then, Howard has indeed learned Photoshop – for real this time – and Stoner has developed his writing skills, making their dynamic fairly regimented. “We generally just trust each other to do their craft to the best of their ability,” says Stoner. “Sometimes Howard writes a line. Actually, a lot. He’s pretty good at that.” 

“Sometimes Stoner rambles long enough until he suggests something interesting,” adds Howard. “We mesh because we trust the process and trust each other. If someone suggests something impossible or stupid or dangerous, that’s the thing we’re going to do without even thinking.”

Reflecting on their first year at Leo Burnett, Stoner says they’ve led with authenticity, and without holding back. “Sometimes that leads to something smart. Other times, we’re asked to leave the room. Either way, we believe the best work happens when people feel like they’re comfy, at home, playing with their stuff. So we brought in a lot of stuff and play with it often. Hopefully our co-workers enjoy that.”

This ‘stuff’ includes an old CRT TV, classic movies on VHS and a Nintendo 64 console. “The original ‘Dune’ is airing at our desks as we write this. Don’t think we’ve achieved much in a year, but we constantly try to be representations of what makes a great ad. Playing ‘Mario Kart’ (on N64 exclusively) during down time. Bringing in bad art our wives don’t want in the house…”

Recently, the duo helped revive the iconic ‘Great Taste, Less Filling’ debate for Miller Lite, which they describe as one of the great American brands. “It’s up there with Levi’s jeans and classic Mustangs. And it holds that position in culture because it’s a beer that’s never changed. Unlike pretty much any other beer you could think of.” 

Getting to bring back the campaign which made the brand what it is today “activated every cell in our ad nerd bodies”, say The Nicks, whose campaign features actor Luke Wilson and American sports stars JJ Watt and Reggie Miller among others. “We very purposely called back to as many of the details of the original spots as possible. Luke Wilson piling hot dogs onto a plate in Bob Euker’s iconic plaid jacket was an advertising moment that will live in our brains for a long time.”

The pair have also worked with Miller Lite before, helping invent ‘The Cantroller’ and ‘The Shoezie’, and describe the brand as a true platform for creativity. “Much like JFK once said, it asks only what you will do with it. So yes, we have turned it into a video game controller, and we made it a shoe. We’ve also made it the star of a film noir. To a Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic’s dismay, we put it in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.”

Along this creative journey, disagreements are inevitable – “probably once every 30 minutes,” they joke (or do they?). “Believe it or not, the strongest couples fight. Friendly, of course. We have scared an editor or two. But we interrogate everything each other says constantly. We’re comfortable enough with each other to be brutally honest and say incredibly stupid things out loud. Sometimes, we even make those incredibly stupid things into ads.”

When they aren’t arguing, the pair do enjoy socialising both in and out of the office. Whether it’s grabbing a pint or playing mini golf, the time spent away from the desk together is when the ‘aha’ moments arrive.

“We’re firm believers in getting outside, smelling the smells of the world and putting those stinky smells into our ideas. Speaking of stinky smells, we both have daughters under two, so there are many stinky playdates between our families where we bounce thoughts off of everyone.”

One of their strengths is not just having these unexpected ideas, but also understanding their own limits. Self-described “B+ students” they draw from other amazing artists, who figuratively ‘do know how to put chilli in the cauldron’, to execute their projects in style.

“Since we suck at this, we call exceptionally talented people to teach us how to suck less and beg them to work with us. For example, for this article, we could’ve taken a photo with our arms crossed in black t-shirts. But we knew that was our 3.2 GPAs talking. Instead, we called the hilariously amazing Tara Booth to paint a portrait of us doing what we do best – eat chicken parms at Dan Tana’s while looking like idiots. She nailed it. Call her. And go to Dan Tana’s.”

Looking ahead to the rest of 2024, The Nicks leave us with a piece of wisdom – albeit from a slightly bizarre experience in a lift – that has shaped how they approach their ambitions as creative leaders.

“One time we were on production in LA after a sizable dinner. We were in the elevator going to our rooms when a hand shot out to stop the door. Four men squeeze in, all in fresh tracksuits, also returning from a sizable dinner. We've never forgotten what was said on that elevator. Because one of the tracksuit men turns to the other and says, ‘Johnny, you left the last eggroll on the table. Never leave an eggroll on the table’. And that's become a great organising principle for us when it comes to goals. If you're hungry enough, there's always room for that last eggroll.”