Bananas

About Justin

As a young child, Justin’s parents denied him a Superman suit. Undeterred, his Christmas list that year featured blue pyjamas, red socks, red underpants and a red towel. Come Christmas morning, Justin strutted through the house feeling like the Man of Steel, his red towel not quite billowing in the wind. But most importantly, Justin discovered what it felt like to solve a problem using the power of creativity. He’s made a living out of it ever since – and sometimes, not in red underpants.

Whether it’s co-founding creative advertising agencies like Foxp2 or Bananas, launching 100% organic sunscreen businesses like Buub, crafting world-class campaigns for big brands like KFC and MTN, building creative think spaces like the Jardim Barn, writing an illustrated Children’s book called “The Cloud That Helped People”, or simply infuriating his kids by waking them up to Cat Steven’s “Morning Has Broken”, Justin tries to imbue his life with meaning by living it as creatively as possible.

About Safaraaz

Saf is an advertising creative who fell in love with ideas and stayed for the chaos. He has spent years turning late-night thoughts, mild existential dread and unreasonable deadlines into campaigns for brands that sell everything from fried chicken to life insurance. Somewhere along the line he picked up some Cannes Lions, some D&AD and One Show pencils, a few Clios and a handful of Loerie Grand Prixs, along with the creeping suspicion that people who say “awards mean nothing” are usually the ones not winning any. 

He has worked across continents for brands like KFC, Lego, Coca-Cola, BMW, Essity, Pepsi and a host of other global brands who trusted him to make people feel something in the middle of their doom. scroll. From global Lego campaigns starring Tom Holland to the infamous KFC Thailand Cake commercial and iconic local ads like Chicken Licken’s Kung Fu, KFC’s Make a Meal of It and The Taste Inspector, the work travelled far more than he ever has. And, trust me, he’s travelled. 

He is the Founder and Chief Mischief Officer of Bananas, an independent agency built on the belief that creativity should be brave, funny and slightly dangerous. He is known for being disarmingly direct about the work. The honesty is sometimes brutal, but it saves time, and occasionally, ideas.

He believes humanity is capable of breathtaking creativity and breathtaking stupidity, often in the same briefing session. He is, at heart, an optimist with a dark sense of humour. A believer in big ideas. A collector of trophies he pretends not to care about. A creative who knows the world is a mess, the deadlines are worse, and the only sensible response is to make something unforgettable before he dies.

This bio was written by Logan, his artificial intelligence partner trained on years of late-night rants, rationales, case studies, and a strict instruction to never use the em-dash.  Anything brilliant belongs to Logan. Anything unhinged is Saf. Neither of us are entirely sure where one ends and the other begins anymore, which is either efficient collaboration or the beginning of a very dangerous takeover.

About Sean

Sean Harrison is the Executive Creative Director at Bananas South Africa.

He’s spent the last 25 years working across different brands, markets and countries, mostly trying to make things that people can’t ignore.

Along the way, some of the work has been recognised at shows like Cannes Lions, D&AD, The One Show and the Clios. More recently, KFC Thailand’s Let There Be Cake picked up a Cannes Lions Gold in Film, South Africa’s first in the category in over 15 years. It was one of those rare projects that was genuinely fun to make, where the awards came as a result rather than the goal. The better part has been making things with good people, in places you wouldn’t normally find yourself, and occasionally landing on something that feels right.

 He tends to like ideas that make you wish you’d made them, and risky before they exist.