Oriol Villar, the Barcelona creative behind the slogans “Mediterráneamente” and “La vida es chula”

“Como en casa en ningún sitio”, “Doble o nada”, “Mediterráneamente”, “Mucho gusto”, “La vida es chula”. Sounds familiar? These are just some of the famous slogans created by Barcelona advertiser Oriol Villar.

Thanks to its links with great artists and architects of the twentieth century such as Gaudi, Miró, andTàpies, Barcelona has acquired a name for design and creativity, consolidating a cutting edge and sustainable approach that is represented by institutions like the Disseny Hub in Barcelona and the Elisava School of Design.

The city is home to numerous creatives and designers, one of whom is Oriol Villar, an advertising professional known for his well-known campaigns.

Oriol was trained as an advertiser at a range of agencies, includingTiempo BBBD, FCB Tapsa, and Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam, in which he worked on the production and writing of content. He then became creative manager at Publicis Casadevall, which he left together with Jordi Rosàs to open Villar-Rosàs , an agency located on the Via Laietana in Barcelona.

His own agency

When Villar-Rosàs was wound up in 2013, Oriol decided to set up his own advertising agency. Since then, he has worked for a range of companies, including Desigual, for whom he created the slogan "La vida es chula" la vida es chula(Life is cool) and Estrella Damm, whose "Mediterráneamente" mediterráneamentecommercials he inspired. He has also worked with Casa Tarradellas, Pascual, Toyota, Pikolin, and Bankinter, and many other brands and even public institutions. The agency which bears his name is behind some of the country's best known advertising slogans.

Furthermore, in 2013, Oriol and the designer Marc Morro worked on a project called AOO/Altrescoses-Otrascosas-Otherthings, a space dedicated to designing, creating and selling design products that are hard to find. The space opened in Gracia as a store, showroom and meeting place.

Famous commercials

Some of the most popular campaigns that have been run by Oriol Villar are Estrella Damm ‘s “Mediterráneamente” commercials, in which Oriol worked with film directors such as Alejandro Amenábar, Isabel Coixet and Dani de la Torre. According to Villar, the commercials, which feature such well-known actors and actresses as Jean Reno, Dakota Johnson, Luis Tosar, Quim Gutierrez, Natalia Tena, Laia Costa, and Peter Dinklage, are based on his own experiences.

Barcelona, June 10, 2019: "If we want to maintain our way of life, shouldn't we protect what it is that makes it possible?

The new slogan brought a complete change to Estrella Damm’s commercials in 2019, which were now aimed at raising awareness about climate change and the environmental emergency in the oceans.

In 2020, despite the production difficulties due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the "Mediterráneamente" Mediterráneamentecampaign, directed by Oriol Villar for Estrella Damm, was awarded the National Creativity Prize. Entitled "Act III. Commitment", this commercial announced that Damm had decided to remove the plastic rings from its can packaging.

Oriol has been recognized on numerous occasions at major national advertising festivals

In 2011, Oriol received the National Award of Arts and Sciences applied to Sports for his work with Nike. And in 2016 he was awarded the National Advertising Prize by the Generalitat de Catalunya.