When Luke Sullivan invited me to write the foreword to the sixth edition of Hey Whipple, Squeeze This I panicked.

Not because Mike Hughes or Alex Bogusky had written previous forewords for this classic guide to creating great ads. Or because lots of people in marketing and communications from all over the world would read it.

I panicked because Luke Sullivan would read it.

Luke Sullivan was a name I used to see usually followed by a series of numbers. It’d be something like this: “Luke Sullivan, 17, 18, 19, 47, 48, 56, 57, 80, 93, 94, 95, 110, 111, 130, 147, 158, 159.” Those were all the page numbers showcasing Luke Sullivan’s work on the One Show Annuals.

When I was a junior writer starting my career in São Paulo, I would spend all of my entry-level salary on imported, expensive advertising annuals instead of basic items like food and clothing. It was all Luke Sullivan’s fault.

I would buy any One Show, Communications Arts, and D&AD annuals available for international shipping. Back then, it would take months to arrive.

I still remember the feeling of opening up the box, tearing off the plastic wrap, and taking a deep breath: “Ah, the new imported advertising annual smell.” It was the smell of a foreign, unattainable world. A world where advertising was clever, witty, funny, inspiring, emotional, and groundbreaking. The opposite of that promotional radio spot waiting to be written.

I was so moved by that kind of work that one day I sat in front of my parents and said, “Mom, Dad, thanks for everything. I’m moving to Minneapolis.”

“But why, son?”

“Because that’s the place doing the best advertising in the world right now. I’ll arrive at the airport, hail a cab, and say, ‘Take me to Fallon!’”

“Son, do you realize the average temperature in December is 20° Fahrenheit?”

Anyway, a couple of years later I moved to Miami.

My English was intermediate at best—I’m still learning every day.

During my entire first year in the US, I’d take daily English classes during my lunch break. I’d bring advertising annuals to Mary, my English teacher, and go over every single ad. I’d be especially interested in the work coming out of Fallon McElligott in Minneapolis. I still remember campaigns like The Episcopal Church, Federal Express, Rolling Stone, Hush Puppies, Jim Beam, Lee, and Porsche. I wanted to study the language and the thinking behind every headline and every long copy ad. The same name would show up over and over again on the credits: Luke Sullivan.

So, in a way, Luke Sullivan didn’t only teach me advertising but also English.

I first read Hey Whipple, Squeeze This in 1998. I remember thinking, How can someone teach advertising so well? How can someone write so well? How can someone be such an ad nerd?

This book should be required reading for every student, every agency, every client, and anyone remotely working in advertising. They should revoke your advertising license if you haven’t read it.

Because I’m a proud ad nerd, before writing this foreword I decided to read this book again 23 years later. I realized that, consciously or not, I still use a lot of the teachings from this book. It influenced and shaped my career forever. And probably some of my tweets, too.

It’s incredible how the world has changed from the first to the sixth edition. Before it was all about print, TV, radio, and billboard—the original four. Now it’s also about branded content, social media, mobile, tech, and every imaginable form of advertising.

That’s why this book is even more necessary now. Because the media landscape and consumer habits might change by the minute, but the principles of coming up with powerful ideas that build long-term brand love and generate results haven’t.

It starts with being passionate about what you do. Obsessed even.

Unfortunately, there’s a lot of cynicism in our industry right now. There are more pessimistic gurus than optimistic makers out there. And there’s a bunch of important senior ad people proclaiming advertising is over and that media-buying robots will take all our jobs.

The truth is, advertising is alive and well. Creativity has always been, and always will be, the ultimate competitive business advantage.

Hey Whipple, Squeeze This is the best guide to help you create the 5 percent of advertising out there that matters: the kind that doesn’t suck.

As Luke reminds us, we’re lucky to get paid to think, put our feet up, and talk about movies. On the worst days, your idea will get killed by a thousand cuts. (So what? You can always come up with a better one.) But on the best days, you’ll influence pop culture, globalize icons, and change the behavior of whole continents. And every once in a while, you’ll have an undeniable feeling that advertising is the world’s best art form.

This is indeed a great business.

If you ever doubt, even for one second, the power of advertising, just grab this book and open it on a random page.

It will make you fall in love with advertising all over again.

It just happened to me.

Anselmo Ramos

Founder, Creative Chairman, GUT