Broken Heart Love Affair (BHLA) has welcomed Matthew McDonald and Layton Wu to the Toronto agency as creative directors. Known for their sharp thinking and enduring creative partnership, McDonald and Wu have built a body of award-winning work across some of the world’s most recognised brands. Their work has been honoured by Cannes Lions, The One Show, ADCC, Effie, CMA, and the Webbys, among others.

While their careers began on separate paths with McDonald at The Martin Agency in Richmond, Virginia, working on Geico, BF Goodrich, and Walmart; and Layton in Toronto creating for Fido, Hitachi, and The North Face, the two eventually met in Montreal in 2019.  They went on to spend two years together at Cossette, followed by five years at Leo Burnett. They’ve delivered impactful work for brands such as Kellogg’s Vector, Enbridge, Pizza Hut, and Montreal Children’s Hospital.

Now based in Toronto, the pair bring a distinctive blend of perspective, craft, and creative ambition to BHLA. They also share a love of photography, which unsurprisingly shows up in their work.

“We’ve always admired BHLA. And we’ve always held their work up high as a creative bar for ourselves, sometimes literally in the shrine we erected years ago in their honour,” Wu stated.

“We’re super excited to join and to be part of this incredibly talented team. P.S. The shrine isn’t going anywhere,” added McDonald.

“Matthew and Layton are the kind of creatives who make you slightly nervous in the best way: curious, restless, and annoyingly smart. They bring sharp instincts, zero ego, and a habit of making things feel effortless,” commented Carlos Moreno, BHLA co-founder and chief creative officer. “We’re lucky they chose BHLA.”