37. MODERN DOG DESIGN CO.
Modern Dog cofounder Mike Strassburger receives requests from all over the world for speaking engagements and is famous for advertising his appearances with posters. He’s also gained quite a reputation for hiding images within them. The invitation from the Ad Federation of Fort Wayne, Ind., came on the coldest day of the year, so Strassburger looked to a snowy Seattle for inspiration.

“I took a picture of a naked man with his pants around his ankles to illustrate the cold,” he says. But because of his potentially conservative Midwest audience, he blurred the photo and added dirty smudges to create the effect of looking through a window. He also incorporated Modern Dog’s signature custom lettering.

He arrived in Fort Wayne eager to see his creation but none had materialized; the printer hadn’t been able to open his file. Just before speaking, Strassburger was informed of another promotional glitch. “The ad that ran was a big black box with no names,” he says. Adversity aside, the event sold out. Alissa Walker