Neil French got into advertising because he failed at everything else.

I have an idea did a series of quick interviews asking big names how they got into advertising - first one out with their story was Niel French.

“In my experience, anyone who’s totally useless at everything else seems to go into advertising. I have a friend who owns an agency. Would you like me to make a call?”
“Yes, Sir. Please, Sir. That’s jolly nice of you.”

I've seen that before somewhere. In ad-pup school I remember so many "I slipped in on a banana-peel" stories being told, I can still taste the resentment I had for them then. Look, I know they're funny stories, this one is particularly amusing and serves the Niel French brand of ad-man quite well, but hearing them over and over again when you're clawing your way in for dear life right after spending your life savings on a portfolio school just isn't funny. In fact, I think stories like this is why people think everyone in advertising are tossers.

One could hope that rest of the stories are more of the "I worked until I sweated blood and then one day I got a break". But those stories are so boring to tell, I doubt anyone will.