George Lois on emojis, Cannes and the advertising industry today

We had a chance to sit down with legendary art director George Lois, who is known for not mincing words. He is, in fact, a wizard with them. Images, too. Lois was the creative mind behind the “I want my MTV” campaign, which helped turn the fledgling cable channel into a cultural sensation. He’s also famous for creating more than 90 Esquire magazine covers that satirized pop culture and politics — like the cover of Richard Nixon getting make-up applied, a dig referencing his first debate against John F. Kennedy. Lois’ other Esquire covers astutely (and often controversially) observed contemporary society. In one, a woman shaving her face with a razor with the tag line “The Masculinization of the American woman.”

With such a storied career, we jumped at the opportunity to ask Lois about the latest cultural obsession: emojis.  The 84-year-old had strong opinions, “I hate them. I hate everything about them.”