Singapore ad agency creative Stuart Mills in alleged altercation with security guard
Senior advertising agency creative Stuart Mills is at the centre of a furore in Singapore, following an alleged altercation with a security guard that was captured on camera.
Multi-award winning Mills was most recently global creative director at TBWA Singapore, but left the agency in May of last year and is thought to have been freelancing since then.
Before TBWA he worked for Cheil, SapientNitro, Bates CHI, Phibious and Ogilvy & Mather as well as Young & Rubicam, the BBC and Saatchi & Saatchi.
Back at the start of his career in the 1990s he worked for Saatchi & Saatchi in London, in the United Kingdom. He later moved to Australia where he worked in Sydney and Melbourne – for agencies including Y&R as it was then called, Clemenger BBDO and The Campaign Palace.
This was followed by his first stint in Singapore – at Ogilvy & Mather – in 2005 and then a period in Vietnam as Phibious group executive creative director. In the latter role he oversaw the creative output for Vietnam, Indonesia, and Cambodia.
In 2013, he joined Bates CHI in Singapore as a freelance executive creative director. He then moved to Seoul, Korea, in 2015 to work for Cheil. There, he worked on global projects for Samsung.
In 2017, he then returned to Singapore to take on the role at TBWA – where he remained in employment until May of last year.
His profile on krop.com – a portal showcasing creatives and their work to potential clients and employers – states: “Stuart is now writing films, researching a TV series idea and is also still available for freelance work and projects within the advertising industry.”
The same profile also lists a long line of awards triumphs at shows including Cannes, D&AD, Adfest, Spikes, the Clio Awards and the World Press Awards.
It has been reported that the incident with the security guard is now in the hands of the police.
Mills was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.
“Multi-award winning Mills….”
Let’s address this first please…. all these so called awards are for East Timor Tourism, Death and a number of other uhhhh….[Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] projects.
Secondly, this was a long time coming…[Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
Roxy Square = [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines]
ReplyThis is of [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines]. This kind of culture [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines]. Such culture had [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] today.
ReplyWow. That actually shocked me. [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
At first I’m thinking: why would Mumbrella cover this? This is nobody’s business. Now I am so glad you did so Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] are seen by as wide an audience as possible.
Don’t care who [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
ReplyWow you really don’t care do you, this guy really just thinks he’s on top of everyone because he’s [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] doesn’t he?
ReplyGuessing his employment pass won’t be renewed.
ReplyHe has [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] at ogilvy
Reply[Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] trash.
ReplyIt’s a nothing story and doesn’t warrant the coverage. He struck a security guard who manhandled him. Sorry it is no biggie.
ReplyThe poor guard didn’t “manhandle” him – he was doing his job. It was Stuart who tripped him and struck him. Did you not watch the video or are you one of his mates? From people who have worked with him, [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines]. I hope they make an example of him because this kind of [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] behaviour needs to stop. Jail / fine and at least cancel his EP, good riddance. I hope he [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] our industry such a bad name.
ReplyThe security guard manhandled him? What rubbish!
ReplySecurity guard man-handled Stuat? Check your facts before commenting.
ReplyHey Liar, are you [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] writing under Juanito? Don’t lie or else have to investigate you and cancel ur employment pass also. SMFH
Replythat’s why they call folks like u deek head
ReplyWhere in the video does it show the Security Officer manhandling him? No biggie? This is a biggie he can go to jail n this is Singapore we do not condon such behaviour.
ReplyYou are a damn fool
ReplyThe security guard didn’t manhandle him at all. He was even polite. This guy is a big bully, foul mouthed from the beginning. He tripped the old security guard and then punched him so hard that the man fell down with a thud. Don’t show your ignorance and idiocy, without even checking the video out. And this guy is a creative talent Singapore brought in. Lol.
ReplySeriously? Manhandled him? Please watch the video again and again till ou get it.
ReplyDamn it mumbrella. All the edited comments by mumbrella, i wanna read the redacted comments. Dont humji.
ReplyI guess his freelance rates will be very negotiable.
ReplyDong for the d&@k!
Very apt.
Firstly – why on earth are Mumbrella covering this story?
Secondly all this story has been used to do is uncover the ridiculous undercurrent of [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] that exists.
It’s a true insight into [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines]? It’s disgusting.
Yes what he did was very wrong but let’s iust be honest [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines]. Don’t use this as an excuse to surface the massive frustration and aggression you all feel about your [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines]
ReplyThe dick move of that vdo is when he tells a guy who barely speaks english…..”you walked into my arm” …. nasty. He probably thought he was so smart using his phone to vdo the incident….in the end got pwned by the other guard who recorded him.
Well documented [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] overlooked with a slap on the wrist.
There has been a debate about nice vs talented on this site of late.
ReplyLet me clearly say, no matter how many lions you have won, this is
not the kind of talent we want here. Another vote to revoke or deny his EP renewal from me.
sounds like he [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] through his entire career.
Reply“Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines”…might as well don’t allow comments. LOL!
ReplyWow the extensive redacting under the guise of Mumbrella community guidelines is quite telling. How wonderful.
Reply[Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
No wonder he’s ‘freelancing’. If this is the way he treats authority, I wonder how he treats people who work for/with him.
ReplyI would genuinely be interested in Mumbrellas decision to cover this story. It feels like social warrior justice stuff.
I can’t defend in any way his actions, but I am struggling with how this impacts the industry? It was not at an industry event. He seems a fairly minor player in the industry.
He will undoubtedly be dealt with by the authorities, but the professional impact of this coverage is likely to follow him for years.
L
Reply“He will undoubtedly be dealt with by the authorities, but the professional impact of this coverage is likely to follow him for years.”
I also had reservations, but your comment above is is exactly why Mumbrella SHOULD cover this.
ReplyI don’t know why people bother commenting when their comments are so heavily censored by Mumbrella…I hate seeing a post that makes no sense because it has “[Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines” throughout it. Mumbrella, if you are going to censor something so savagely that it doesn’t make sense, then rather not publish it. The Expat in the video will hopefully receive the full force of SG Law, lashes included.
ReplyI think the reader comments shed far more light on the alleged incident than the actual mumbrella article which is essentially just his linked in profile copy / paste..
ReplyMore like the bio of this dude rather than the incident update. Plus, what’s with the comment section censorship hahaha what a joke.
ReplyHello all
Just in case a reminder is needed, here is the link to the full community guidelines: https://www.mumbrella.asia/community-guidelines
And here are the four fundamental pillars:
Be respectful
Abusive, hateful or ad hominem personal attacks are not permitted. Comments should address the issue, not the person.
Be constructive
Stay on topic. How will your comment add to the debate?
Be concise (too long ; don’t read)
Try to make your point in a couple of paragraphs. Excessively long comments risk not being read at all.
Be reasonable
We all work under constraints. Without seeing the brief or understanding the internal processes involved, you may not have a full understanding of a piece of work.
ReplyHe is probably just angry because people ain’t buying he is [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines]. No matter how hard he tries with his rolled up oversized jeans, ‘bright’ sneakers and pocket chain. What a [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
ReplyI’m not sure why this warrants me getting an email stating this is ‘breaking news’. I don’t know the guy or his situation or particularly care, but this coverage feels very personal and is very far removed from the reason I agreed to receive updates from Mumbrella.
ReplyLooks like he was being a bit of a [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] to me. Deportation please.
ReplyComments section is reading like I’m on The Daily Mail! Didn’t realise there were so many [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] folks in SG.
ReplyWhy you censoring all the comments? Afraid to reveal certain truths? Or covering the fact [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines]?
ReplyReal tough, smacking a smaller older gent like that.
ReplyTerrible and inexcusable, but is this really industry news ? [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
ReplyThe sheer volume of comments cast a spotlight on the severe frustration and pent up aggression that [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] feel. [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] in the world
ReplyMumbrella, is this your new editorial focus?
Let’s not talk about the scourge of scam, let’s not talk about the financial and economic illiteracy plaguing the industry, let’s not talk about the talent war that the industry is losing, let’s not talk about the huge con-job of influencer marketing, let’s not talk about the lack of science-based decision making in the industry, but let’s run puff pieces and show footage of a pissed freelancer in a fight.
What he didn’t wasn’t right, but one thing I learnt in arbitration law was that in these areas of arbitration, the area of coverage should generally only cover “the role of agent as agent, employee as employee and employer as employer”. In other words, if this has occurred within the realm of him undertaking his job, then by all means cover it. But a bloke on a night out (as terribly behaved as he was) is not becoming of a supposed trade magazine.
If however, this is Mumbrella’s new focus – Ad people behaving badly – then I could conceivably supply you with a range of photos, videos and stories of aggressive, arrogant, drug taking, poorly behaved executives as long as your arm. But I won’t. Because it’s not about the industry. and that’s all I’m interested in reading about.
ReplyWhy can’t Mumbrella do all of that and expose this?
This IS relevant. You think behaviour like this does not extend into the workplace?
Bullying, aggressive behavior has been indulged in creative departments for way too long. Senior creatives with their massively inflated sense of importance (thanks to trades and award shows) get put on a pedestal that would not and should not be entertained in any other workplace.
Time to end this.
ReplyErm, my point was IF it occurs in the workplace, then it’s fair game. But its entirely unreasonable [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] to suggest that a single incident that happened in a personal context would otherwise extend in any other way.
Therefore, I think it’s poor form.
My advice to you and to Mumbrella is to focus on workplace actions and competence, not on a broad “men behaving badly” context. Otherwise you and everyone on reading this page will eventually find themselves suffering from a single bad incident in their lives being made a story whose purpose is to demonstrate that they are unsuitable for any vocation, which is in my view an appalling editorial approach.
ReplyI see your point
However, shitty behaviour outside of the office – especially really shitty behavior like this – does impact a person’s suitability for a vocation.
It is in no way unreasonable to infer that a hypothetical person who, say, was shown to be a [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] outside of work would extend that behaviour into the workplace. Pretty reasonable in fact.
As such, only right that clients should know the kind of person they may be hiring to work alongside. They can then make that decision on whether that person is a suitable fit.
And we are not talking about a single bad incident. We are talking about a single extremely bad incident. I believe Mumbrella would be at fault if they DIDN’T report this.
ReplyTotally agree.
ReplyI would agree with council, the esteemed Mr. Juice.
This story sets a new low for my dear Mumbrella. Kicking a man when he’s down is just troll fuel for something that is already a raging bloody fire. This man obviously needs [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] and I would argue that this sits well outside of the remit of Mumbrella as a trade blog. [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
If only we had more investigative work on the very public firings of sitting Global Creative Heads and CCOs.This does affect the industry. More so than a senior freelancer. Let’s look at the snake heads. Like [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] to name just two. Both have strong Singapore ties and both have been the biggest more outrageous sackings ever. We are still waiting on the real stories of these two. [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] is part of this story and omitting it from comments just enables more of it it happen.
Advertising has never been more depressing than it is now. I am so happy to be out of this arena. I hope Mumbrella doesn’t go an edit my words and the names I’ve named. The names I mentioned above are in public record and are well documented, and my opinions are not demeaning but arguably constructive.
I call for more investigatory journalism and conversation. Not inflammatory gossip at [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
ReplyThis is a good point
While I do believe this story is relevant to the industry, you are also correct that Mumbrella has lost its way somewhat in terms of offering critical perspectives of the industry, and in that way is these days little different than other press release curators such as Campaign, Marketing, Drum, etc.
My suggestion: more of this please as well as much more digging below the press release and highlighting what is really going on.
I understand there needs to be balance and there are legal concerns with what you report, but there is still so much room for critical analysis and observation
Please don’t become another Everything is Awesome trade. That’s exactly what I always saw Mumbrella as being a reaction against.
ReplyVery well put. This is terrible behavior, but nothing to do with our industry and we should focus on the myriad problems we’ve got and not on what [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] did one Saturday night. [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
ReplyIf more trade publications had in the past highlighted the bad behaviour within agencies, the rotten apples wouldn’t have risen to the position where they have had to be removed.
ReplyAgencies of the past used to pride themselves in hiring ‘gentlemen with brains.
We know that the intellect levels have dropped.
Now, even the last modicum of good manners and civility too.
Good on you Mumbrella!
Thanks for breaking this Dean – I absolutely agree with exposing this dude to industry folks & clients. No one should be able to get away with such [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] behavior – great to see that Mumbrella’s exposing this guy’s profile. Any client or brand worth their salt will not associate with this fallen creative.
ReplyAgree
ReplyYou do wonder how [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] one must be to push around and attempt to humiliated an old person.
But to strike that person? That is off the chart
I guess the trying to dress 20 years your junior was a giveaway. What a walking [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] of a man.
ReplyTypical whitewashing. Because let’s highlight about his glorious job history instead of the wrong he has done. Not even a single paragraph of that.
ReplyI got to agree with you on that…while the article is supposedly about the bad behaviour of Stuart Mills, the copy seems to be extolling his (non-existent) successes. A one-liner would have been enough, but this reads like a job appointment or CV *rolleyes*
ReplyAs far as this individual is concerned this is Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines]…at what point do we say alright enough, please GTFO of Singapore.
Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
ReplyHe’s done. Toast. Regardless of [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
Not too many people will want to work with folk who [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
ReplyHope this [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines]. Disgusting [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
Replyif you want to pick a fight, show you have the balls to fight some one with the same height ,weight ,age, by striking someone [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines],
ReplyHonestly, if I wanted to receive email updates about this sort of thing, I would subscribe to Stomp.
Like one or two of the previous commenters said, this is an incident that has nothing to do with the advertising industry. And from what I read from your cut and paste of his CV, the guy is not even employed by an agency,
Is what he did bad? Of course. But this sounds like [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
ReplyUhhh, [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
Maybe this isn’t for you but this [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] needs to be known in the industry.
ReplyThe guy who filmed this is a hero.
ReplyFinally, undeniable proof.
A couple of people I know have [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] (edited myself, but you can use your imagination)
and were quite [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
What he do for a living is not important to me
He can hold a strings of titles; and holding so many jobs in well known establishment
[Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
What is so special about his character?
Nothing great !!
ReplyI’m curious what clients think. A tad idealistic to expect clients with stated values to refuse to work with partners who behave as such?
ReplyWhat about agency leaders instead? They are ultimately responsible for putting the team in front of the client.
Side note: this article is relevant IMO if we continue to preach about talent attraction and retention. Beats reading about how yet another agency has ‘transformed’ themselves to better serve the needs of their client etc
Replykudos to mumbrella for covering it. why should they not cover it? silly question. this stuart mills is someone who is relatively established in the singapore ad industry, and is still working in it. which means that whatever he does may impact his current and future employees/colleagues. especially one that is of a [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] nature as this. the number of comments on this topic speaks of how news worthy this is.
and Mumbrella did try to reach out to him and get comments and they reported it fairly. so this is by no means one-sided or “kicking a man who is down”. they are just reporting it as they see it. he should know what’s coming when he did what he did.
he should consider himself lucky. he laying his hands on an elderly man half his size and without any provocation is disgusting to say the least. if this happens in Thailand and many other Asian countries he will be lynched in public.
Reply“if this happens in Thailand and many other Asian countries he will be lynched in public”.
Oh no. We don’t do that here. We likey [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
ReplyHope Singaporeans see this and stop hero worshiping the westerners. They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this kinda behaviour. In other countries by now the person would be leaving the country in a [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines]. Noticed that Singapore loves to hold these westerners in high regards. Hope they realise that half of these guys in Singapore cannot hack it in their own country and have escaped to an ‘easier’ place, where people worship them. Hope they wake up and chase these egoistic guys away.
ReplyThis has nothing to do with [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] – d*ckheads exist in all shapes, sizes, cultures and ages.
You only need to read a local publication such as Stomp or any piece involving [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] cyclists and you’ll see that [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] is well and truly alive in Singapore.
This is about the behaviour, not the heritage.
Reply[Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] whom many worshipped is no different than Stuart.
ReplyFor context, there is so much more to this story than just rehashing the guy’s resume. Look how it’s been reported over there. I won’t tell you how to do your job but it could help to see some of the information in these stories.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/police-investigating-case-of-man-who-punched-60-year-old-security-supervisor-at-roxy
ReplyAnd
https://observer.news/featured/smrt-feedback-identifies-caucasian-man-in-roxy-square-assault-incident/
@ Roxy Square: Thanks for taking him off our hands.
lol.
ReplyFew years ago, an expat tough guy tried throwing his weight around at another venue in Singapore….only that time he was beaten senseless and put in hospital by a bunch of angry bouncers. It’s a shame that these tough guys dont have the guts to go against men their size and age, they only pick weaker men to make themselves look stronger.
ReplyZzz.
ReplyYawn. Anything else happening in the industry?
ReplyYes, KFC HK just released a new Facebook post image
It really is end of days for advertising
ReplyCould someone enlighten me on what the Roxy is?
Replyyou must be an expat too
ReplyOh yeah nevermind the assault, who cares about that? He only just hit an elderly man half his size who was calmly trying to help him. Let’s just fanfare the guy’s accolades and work experience instead……………….
Really, mumbrella?
ReplyThere are certain restrictions on what can be reported in such cases, but we think the video speaks for itself. There’s no fanfare, simply an acknowledgment of where he worked.
Replyany updates on this piece of [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines]? such bad behaviour in your host country cannot be tolerated, more so at an elderly man half his size.
well done Mumbrella. prospective employers should know about stuart mills. it is totally reasonable to believe that [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
no self respecting agency (who do not want to incur the wrath of the public) should have him onboard.
you have been warned.
ReplyIf this is malaysia, this guy will [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] first, then police come , the people still whacking him. Police will wait until everybody had their fill then okay nothing to see here guys, take him in. Maybe at police station [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] somemore because he [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] security. Then send him on his way because he paid to stop being whacked. End story, civilian justice attained. Unless he gets [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] .
ReplyReally… goes to show no amount of [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] ads gives you class. Get off your high horse, and out of the country… do everyone the favour.
ReplyEveryone knows Singapore is a benevolent [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
ReplySo what was the verdict? This story has disappeared from the news.
Reply[Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] doesn’t deserve a PR in SG or anywhere on earth! Shame on you Stuart Boyd Mills, go rot in jail!!!
ReplyHave your say