"To create means not to copy" - Jacques Maximin
Ferran hadn't realized that he had the right to create until he heard this quote in 1988. It was inspiring for him to discover that part of the responsibility of a chef to create something new and unexpected. Kitchens at the time were a militaristic environment where you were expected to follow what had been done. With very little variation from tradition.
So it became Ferran's mission to create new experiences in food from that moment on. (Though some people say that you're never really creating something new. Just new combinations. But that seems like splitting hairs to me.) And he did to great effect.
Applying it to advertising, I like this quote for different reasons. It's a rehashing of the lessons I, thankfully, learned early on. Advertising is not supposed to follow, to repeat the same solution over and over. This is the reason so much work fails when a client says, "give me a nike" or "give me an apple" and the agency agrees.
The quote is a reminder that moving away from what is being done by everyone else is exactly what we should do for our clients.
All quotes taken from "Ferran: The Inside Story of El Bulli and the Man Who Reinvented Food."