During my freshman year at the University of Mississippi, we didn’t have a mascot. It wasn’t an issue until a small, vocal group of students backed by a well-funded organization called The Colonel Reb Foundation wanted to bring back our previous, racist mascot Colonel Reb. They began pushing for students to vote against having a say in the mascot selection, believing this would force Colonel Reb back as mascot. It wouldn’t.

Three friends and I countered them with a grassroots campaign to make Admiral Ackbar the new mascot. It went viral, and ESPN turned it into their 2010 commercial, “A Short Time Ago…”

Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with these spots other than being in them & making Wieden+Kennedy pay to license shitty photoshops I did in my english class.