Eugene Cheong's New Book Smacks the Mediocrity Out of Creatives in Latest Gigil & Arcade Film

Jun. 12, 2026

GIGIL & ARCADE have released a hilarious, hard-hitting film to launch Cowards Don’t Go To Heaven, the highly anticipated book by Eugene Cheong. Revered as a pioneer of the Asian Creative Revolution, Cheong is the former Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy APAC and DDB Asia, and the most award-winning Asian advertising creative in the world.

His new book immortalizes four decades of industry-defining wisdom into 13,000 handwritten words, accompanied by 71 raw illustrations from acclaimed illustrator Simon Spilsbury. Highlighting its exceptional craftsmanship, the book has received two nods at the D&AD Awards 2026 for both Book Design and Typography.

The film takes a literal approach to "hard-hitting" lessons to navigate the exciting yet anxiety-inducing creative industry. It opens on a burnt-out young creative, who decides to crack open a fat red book. The moment he flips the first page, he is blindsided by a brutal slap to the face.

As he tries to power through the chapters, he is subjected to an unapologetic barrage of slaps, trying while failing to resist the book’s tough-love impact. The film culminates in a surprise cameo by Anselmo Ramos, Creative Chairman of GUT, who is seen nursing his bruised face with an ice pack, trying to recover from his own reading session.

“It was between the Slap idea and an OnlyFans idea requiring me to go full nude with the line: ‘Eugene Cheong bares it all.’ I guess I chickened out.”  - Eugene Cheong

The film officially debuted on June 9th at the D&AD HQ in London during the exclusive book launch event hosted by Eugene Cheong and Simon Spilsbury. Leading up to the reveal, the book launch was heavily teased across LinkedIn and other social platforms, generating massive buzz and endorsements from global creative leaders.