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In memory of Murphy Chou, bright star of Leo Burnett Taiwan

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“Hope this is helpful.”

Few words can condense Murphy Chou’s spirit more efficiently than these, pulled straight from one of our email exchanges with Leo Burnett Taiwan's former chief creative officer. As the industry gathers to mourn and remember one of the legends of advertising in Taiwan, we personally stop and think about how many times one simple email from Murphy made us smile on a long day, or how helpful he has always been to the Creativepool team.

At the end of September, Murphy passed away peacefully, as mentioned in a corporate statement by Leo Burnett Taiwan. Murphy began his journey in advertising in 1989 and kept bringing his talent to the industry for the past 31 years, collecting numerous international awards along the way. This year, two of his 2019 campaigns, Souvenirs From Travel and Still My Little Girl, were both shortlisted for the 2020 edition of the Annual awards, with the former winning a Bronze prize in Advertising: Film.

Gathering over 900 international and national awards, Murphy has had the chance to work with clients in the likes of Whirlpool, Panasonic, LG, Motorola, Chrysler, Unilever, McDonald’s, Mercedes-Benz and numerous others. He leaves an industry in mourning, forever marked by his persistence and creative spirit, as well as a range of groundbreaking campaigns he and his team have created over the past years.

According to his team, perseverance was one of the most respected qualities of Murphy, both in and outside of work. Never afraid of constraints, Leo Burnett Taiwan’s CCO believed that “any limitation is the source of creativity.” This led him and his team of creative professionals to craft some of the most iconic works in the Asian advertising industry and the world.

Remembering Murphy, Margaret Huang, group CEO of Leo Burnett Taiwan and chairman at Leo Burnett Great China, said: “Murphy is the star of Leo Burnett Taiwan, who also shines bright internationally. I mourn his loss but am very honoured to have had the chance to work with him side by side. Today, he becomes the most unique star in the sky. When we look up with tears in our eyes, we see the innovative star that he is, shining brightly with perseverance, bravery, and faith.”

Murphy has been included in our Top 100 Influencers of the Year and was chosen to be in the Publishing judging panel for Annual 2020. In our hearts, we only hope he knew that both he and his works would make the winning list. Despite being sick, Murphy scored all the works in his category during the last few weeks before passing away, and did so to the best of his strengths.

This simple fact alone fills us with honour and pride.

“Murphy left,” Huang added in her corporate letter. “But his spirit is always shining around us.”

Rest in peace, Murphy. Our thoughts are with you, your family, your colleagues and your friends.

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