Fellow Kids' Guto Araki on Creativity for Life

Ultimately, everyone makes it up as they go along

“I think everyone is creative to a certain extent,” Guto Araki, co-founder and CCO at Fellow Kids, tells Muse. “If we believe that there is no instruction manual to life, then to live, we need to improvise our way to exist, to function. That’s creativity.”

“Both my parents were very creative, one making art, the other making buildings,” so the notion of “finding ways out of thin air to make things work” inspired him early on and continues to inform his approach, he says.

Before helping to launch Fellow Kids in Oct. 2024, he held senior posts at Deutsch, TBWA\Chiat\Day and Media Arts Lab, guiding campaigns for Apple, Adidas, Hulu, Taco Bell, Gatorade and more.

We spent a few minutes with Guto to learn more about his background, inspirations and creative process.

Where did you grow up, and where do you live now?

I grew up in São Paulo in a house divided by an engineer father and an artist mother. I moved to South Africa as a teenager, and then California as a young adult. I’ve been in L.A. now for 17 years.

Can you recall a moment from high school or college that changed your life?

Middle school. History test. I forgot I was doing a test, turned the page and started drawing the ships of the colonizers. Classic ADHD crisis. Next thing I know, time is up. And I hadn’t responded to any questions. My parents get called to the school: “We think Guto is very easily distracted and maybe treatment could help. That said, it’s a great drawing.”

What are your most important creative inspirations?

My biggest inspiration is my father. He wasn’t in advertising, but he had a very clear worldview: “If you’re making money but not adding value— you don’t have a business, you have a scam.” That idea sits underneath everything I do. Creativity is perhaps the only unlimited means of adding value. The idea to pursue the evergreen thought of “There must be a better way.”

We see that proven over and over again by observing how capital is distributed. No one wants an unequal world. But the rise of billionaires and trillionaires is logical when we think about the value that great ideas bring to the world. For example, I needed a new light bulb for my oven. A very specific one. So I went online and it was delivered the same day. Imagine having to shop. To drive to several different stores. To maybe never find it. The time I saved without having to do that, I used to write campaigns, meet with clients and take my dog for a walk. Now, multiply this to every human who benefits from that idea. Isn’t that inspiring?

Tell us about one of your favorite creative projects.

“The Sellouts” for Hulu. The clients said, “People think Hulu is yesterday’s TV. Now that we’re live TV, we need to change their perception. And we think sports is the only thing people care about on live TV. On that note, we just signed some very expensive deals with athletes.” So we said, “Well, let’s just tell the world that.”

The campaign ended up being so successful that we had to “correct it” on the Super Bowl:

Can you recall someone else’s work that inspired you years ago?

The brilliant ad for Carlton Draught, made in 2005 by George Patterson Y&R Melbourne, led by creative director James McGrath, writer Ant Keogh and art director Grant Rutherford. It’s the first time I felt in my chest the power of brutal honesty.

Someone else’s work you admired lately?

Life360’s “I Think of You (Dying)” made by my dear friend, former boss and forever sounding board Jason Bagley. And, Doordash, all the ads made by my other long-time friend Mariota Essery. Both have delusional confidence baked into the idea. Not only from a “Can we pull this off?” perspective, but also, imagine the dark arts of persuasion required to convince clients to make them.

Your main strength as a creative person?

I carry a razor sharp katana sword to cut through the bullshit. At. All. Times.

Your biggest weakness?

Thanks to my Asian dad, I have a forever chip on my shoulder.

Was there a mentor who helped you navigate the industry?

Lucky guy here. I had the privilege of working with legendary creatives. These are their names in no particular order: Lee Clow, Jeff Kling, Jason Bagley, Pete Favat, Renato Fernandez, Gustavo Sarkis, Brent Anderson and so many more.

What would you be doing if you weren’t in advertising?

Handyman.