Leo Burnett’s Yasmin Ahmad passes away

Yasmin Ahmad (pictured), ECD at Leo Burnett Malaysia, passed away on 25 July. Ahmad suffered a stroke on Thursday. Initial reports said she was recovering in hospital, but her condition worsened and she passed away late on Saturday night. She was 51.

Highlights of her advertising career include the ‘Funeral’ ad for the Singapore Government, released earlier this year, and ‘Tan Hong Ming’ for Petronas, which won a Gold at Cannes and a Gold at last year’s Spikes. Yasmin has been with Burnett since the last 20 years.

Campaign India spoke to KV Sridhar (Pops), NCD, Leo Burnett India who has worked very closely with Ahmad since the last 15 years. Says Pops, “Yasmin is in Malaysia what Piyush Pandey is in India. She has done award-winning work for Petronas and Air Asia. Apart from this, she has also done emotional work for Malaysia on communal harmony using Petronas. Since the last three-four years she has also been directing feature films which have received critical acclaim. I had made her direct an India commercial on Hindu community after the Godhra incident. It was telecasted on Eenadu television.”

Watch the commercial here:

Encounter from Campaign India on Vimeo.

He adds, “There was a lot of sensitivity in her for people. She was a fantastic person and was always lively and bubbly. I remember her various trips to India. We had gone to a dance bar once and she liked one of the dancing girls and wanted to cast her in a film. She gave the girl a ticket to Malaysia. This just showed her spontaneous nature.”

Pops says that she is an inspiration for many in India and has a huge fan following in the Indian office.

Says Arvind Sharma, chairman, India sub-continent, Leo Burnett, “Yasmin has been a source of inspiration to all of us at Leo Burnett and many others across the industry. She was a versatile and creative person. Apart from advertising, she won many laurels for her feature films. She was a frequent visitor at Leo Burnett Mumbai and we requested her to direct few commercials. Her creativity came from refusing to compromise on humanity. We will miss her deeply.”

Watch some of Ahmad's famous commercials here.