Jun 17, 2022
79 Creative Campaigns That Caught Our Eye in the First Half of 2022
Bits of creative inspiration for the modern marketer
Each Friday, my agency puts out a short email newsletter with three things that caught our eye that week — creative campaigns, PR stunts, art installations, branded entertainment and other inspiring bits.
The goal is simple: lots of marketers get so mired in the day-to-day on their own brands, they often miss interesting marketing ideas that are happening in other industries. We highlight three each week and, hopefully, inspire people as they think about the next creative activation for their brand.
If you don’t already subscribe (you should!), here are the 79 ideas that caught our attention over the first six months of 2022.
(Looking for favorites from the LAST six months of 2022? Find them here.)
01. Cheers to non-drinkers
Heineken takes the big budget, historical walk-through approach in their ad to promote their non-alcoholic brew. It’s a nice spin on the old superstition that you’re not supposed to “cheers” with a non-alcoholic drink. Yes, they’re solving a “problem” that doesn’t really exist, but it’s a fun playful way to promote the brew.
Watch the spot. Read about it.
02. Sun in a bottle
Corona says “we’ll see your zero-alcohol recipe…and raise you THE LIFE-GIVING POWER OF THE SUN.” That’s right, their new “Sunbrew” is infused with Vitamin D. It’s a gimmicky-but-true-to-the-brand-DNA stunt for a beer most closely associated with sunny beaches. The “Sunshine Anytime” spot (from DAVID Miami) features stop-motion animation, sandy beaches, an indie-folk track, and the good-looking young people you’d expect in a beer commercial.
03. PBR breaks Twitter
Sometimes you pour all your time and money into a big Dry January campaign, and some other brand comes along and steals all the attention with 7-word tweet. That’s what PBR did to start the new year with its “Try eating ass!” tweet. Marketing Twitter absolutely lost its mind over the did-they-just-say-that?! post…and then PBR seemed to double-down with some eye-popping follow-up replies. It was a bummer when the brand deleted the tweet a few hours later and blamed it on a “rogue employee” (but maybe it was all part of an inspired master plan to generate even more earned attention.) Lowbrow? Sure. Although, I’m betting the PBR target audience ate it up (pun intended.) And they generated a butt-load (this is too fun) of earned media impressions for $0.
Read about it. Check out some of the coverage.
04. Ride that wing!
Marketers LOVE nostalgia. It’s an effective way to to connect with a demo by tapping into fond memories from their childhood. But basing your campaign on a decade-old deep-cut viral video…is a tip-your-cap leap. That’s what fast-casual restaurant Xaxby’s did, with help from agency Tombras. “Guy on a Buffalo Wing” is bizarro-charming in its own right, but when you realize it’s a spoof of 2011 YouTube hit “Guy on a Buffalo,” you have to admire the layers of the joke.
Here’s the video. But trust us, reading the backstory is worth it.
05. It’s 2007 all over again
Speaking of nostalgia, if you’re going to do a single-store promotion and you want it to get national coverage, doing it at the last remaining Blockbuster Video is a good bet. Oreo is reintroducing Cakesters, so they the cozied up to all-but-defunct chain to transport back to 2007, when the cookie was first introduced.
Read about it.
06. Ahhh, remember vacation travel?
With the global pandemic STILL putting a crimp on travel, color us nostalgic for some good old fashioned vacation ads. Kayak (which made one of our all-time favorite ads, back in the day) has got its funny back with a new series of spots.
The newest one got some buzz for its political wink, featuring a mom who is a “Kayak denier.” But we also really like this “honeymoon” spot and this one with a gentleman who’s ears will pop…eventually. (Shout out to Supernatural for this new batch.)
07. My skincare has a first name, it’s O-S-C-A-R…
Bologna face mask? Bonkers, right? Oscar Meyer merges the beauty aisle with the deli counter in this PR stunt (from creative agency Johannes Leonardo.) No, you’re not really putting cold cuts on your face, but it’s the sort of goofy fun that gets your brand talked about for a few days. And, of course, they sold out right away.
08. A hand for vegan puppets
We’ve featured Oatly in our newsletter more than once and we’ll probably do it again, because they’re a brand that knows how to have fun. Their latest campaign is a puppet web series (you read that right) with a humorous spin on living a plant-based life.
Our favorite episode is the very meta episode five, but you can watch them all here: Ep1 | Ep2 | Ep3 | Ep4 | Ep5
Check out some behind-the-scenes details from Nexus Studios.
09. It’s the end of the world and I feel fine
We love a big-budget commercial featuring a series of slapstick disasters. In this spot, the catastrophes are made A-OK by a simple swig of OJ. Tropicana’s latest (from Cramer-Krassalt) is part of its “Sip Your Sunshine” campaign.
Watch the long-form version of the spot. Read about it.
10. Make like a tree and split
The Harmon Brothers revolutionized the infomercial for the Facebook age (remember the ice-cream-pooping unicorn for Squatty Potty?) and we continued to be fascinated by their long-form formula for digital success. Their latest is for a travel subscription service called Next Vacay and it features a traveling tree. (Of course it does.)
Watch the spot. This behind-the-scenes is chock full of production insights.
11. Apple holds the Hamm
In this funny spot, actor Jon Hamm wants to know what he’s the only celebrity without an Apple TV show.
12. Bark gets squirrelly
Brands love an obscure holiday. And the folks at Bark Box found themselves a super obscure one to embrace: National Squirrel Appreciation day. Of course, your dog is probably NOT on “team squirrel.” The social-first campaign invites pooches to join the anti-squirrel squirrel club.
See and read about the campaign. (And kudos to Bark for putting it all on one page on their site!)
13. Bike thwarts thieves
Love this charming stop-motion spot featuring a trio of professional thieves who are upset that VanMoof bikes are almost impossible to steal. It features animation by Tobias Fouracre, known for his work on Fantastic Mr. Fox, Corpse Bride, Isle of Dogs, and more.
See the spot.
14. Key rhymes
Oh, we do like a funny campaign built on a rock-solid, dirt-simple insight. This new one for Meineke is grounded on a clear idea: teach people how to pronounce their name. (Spoiler: it’s how a German would pronounce “my key.”) The good folks at Erich & Kallman are masters at this stuff: finding a good joke, mining it completely, keeping the spots focused and funny, and casting it perfectly.
See and read about the campaign.
15. Print trees
There are a whole bunch of brands that plant trees. (We’ve worked on a few and if you’ve done any marketing in the last 10 years, you probably have too.) So, the fact that HP plants trees to offset printing isn’t big news, but the execution of this ad is delightfully well-crafted. In this spot, they use the well-known soundtrack of your printer and layer on some top-notch visual effects to “print” a forest.
Watch the spot. Read about it.
16. Hyundai history
As we’ve said before, the big-budget “walk through history” ad is a brand favorite. Hyundai has a new one staring Jason Bateman that is a fine example of the genre. It’s sort of a sequel to their Super Bowl spot from a few years ago, and they cheekily call it a “Super Bowl-worthy” ad (which simply means they didn’t want to spend the $13 million for 60 seconds of “big game” ad time.) Oh, and notice the use of the extended “end card” on the YouTube version, inviting viewers to subscribe.
Watch the spot. Read about it.
17. Noodle mops
On the eve of the Super Bowl, advertising’s celebration of excess, a reminder that a great idea can be simple and doesn’t have to cost a gazillion dollars. We love these branded floor mops from Nissin Cup Noodle.
See the mops in action and read more.
18. Dinos crash the Olympics
Not seeing as much press as usual for the Olympics ads (there are reasons), but this one really caught our attention as we were watching the opening ceremonies. It starts pretty much like every Olympics ad…and then, without warning, dinosaurs show up. This teaser for a movie that won’t be out for another five months is definitely one of the stranger and most eye-catching cross-promos we’ve seen.
Watch it. Read about how it broke this viewer’s brain.
19. Bras, breasts, and bans
This is a fascinating one. To promote its new sports bra line, Adidas tweeted a gallery of 25 pairs of bare breasts, to illustrate they they have a style for everyone. The campaign was created by an all-female team and highlighted the fact that the female body is often censored by many social media platforms. It sparked a range of reaction (from “brave!” to “gratuitous!”) and even here at SOS HQ, we debated whether or not it was appropriate to use the image as the teaser photo for this blurb. It definitely got people talking and thinking, which is a lot more than most ads.
See the post and read about it. Hear from the creative team.
20–26. Our favorite Super Bowl ads of 2022
Click here to watch our favorite spots
Carvana
Favorite first half spot! You can tell the brief was jam-packed with “reasons to believe” that the client wanted to put into the spot. And they found a perfectly charming way to squeeze them all in. The structure of the spot is incredibly smart and the casting is perfect.
Google
Nobody does emotional product demo ads better than Google. This spot delivered “the feels” but didn’t feel manipulative. It told a good story about a real problem and the way their product solved it.
Irish Springs
The Midsommar-esque spot was the right kind of weird. Didn’t know where it was headed and was delighted by the dark turn.
Greenlight
A celeb ad with only ONE celeb in it?! Funny, simple, and made its point. Also, we were SUPER relieved to discover at the end it was NOT an ad for another crypto company.
Gong
Simple, funny way to get people to remember your name. Groundbreaking? Nope. But in a game full of clutter, we’ll take a simple one-joke ad that knows exactly what it’s trying to do.
Coinbase
Sigh… Since everybody in ad-land is talking about it, a grudging nod to the 60-second ad of the bouncing QR code. Did we LIKE it? Not especially. (Struck us as a lazy knockoff of the Reddit ad from last year; more stunt than ad.) But Super Bowl advertising is about zigging when the others zag and this one stood out. You’d think if you’re going to blow $14MM on a media buy, you could at least make a custom landing page for your Q/R code, but you do you, Coinbase. (Postscript: The week after the game, the ad world was buzzing when The Martin Agency’s CEO called out Coinbase’s CEO over comments he made about his Super Bowl spot. LOTS written about it. Worth reading her response.)
Tushy
This wasn’t a Super Bowl ad, but it’s the most bonkers Super Bowl promotion that we’ve ever seen and it deserves it’s own shout out. Tushy Bidet wants you to send a picture of…your post Super Bowl shit. Here’s the tweet. Let’s all say a prayer for the Tushy social media manager that has to sort through the contest entries, shall we?
27. Ferrell goes guru
From this year’s Super Bowl, it may seem like EVERY celebrity is willing to be in a commercial. But many of them still don’t do ads…at least not here in the States. A-listers do pop up in ads that run, exclusively, overseas. Will Ferrell is in a new wild one for Danish bank Lunar (apparently he’s an investor), where he plays self-help guru Will Power.
28. Regional robots
In addition to the Super Bowl ads that everybody sees, there are also some slots for a “regional buy” that only show up in a local market. (These are still pretty expensive slots, just not the $7MM for 30 seconds that the national advertisers pay.) One of our favorites was a Samuel Adams ad from our friends at Goodby Silverstein & Partners that used the REAL Boston Dynamics robots and no visual effect trickery.
29. We like longer Pringles
Consider this a second-chance shout-out. A 30-second version of the Pringles spot aired on “the big game,” but the truncated story didn’t shine like the long version. The 90-second version has the scope you want from a I-spent-my-whole-life-with-a-Pringles-can-stuck-on-my-hand ad. Wish the Pringles peeps had ponied up the extra $14MM to run the full version on the game.
30. Sky high houses
A long spot with an outrageous budget, this German telecom ad is well-crafted eye candy. (Also, that pizza delivery person deserved a tip.)
Watch the spot. Read about it.
31. Long live the horse
This was actually released at the end of 2021, but we just saw it this week. It’s a lovely long-form spot about horses for Zoetis which is…(checks the Internet) a livestock pharmaceutical company?! Proof that you can do emotional storytelling for just about anything, if you try hard enough.
Watch the spot.
32. Coursera takes flight
We’re suckers for a walk-through-your-interior-monologue-while-the-set-transforms-around-you campaign. This new one for Coursera (from Callen) pulls online learning out of the computer and turns it into something bigger: realizing your dreams.
Watch the interview spot. Watch the “do anything” spot. Read about the campaign.
33. Written by TikTok
“Crowdsourced” and “User-generated” are nothing new in advertising, but Old Navy found a fun spin on it for their latest campaign. When a high school student posted a TikTok with a joke about the a new Old Navy ad, the brand grabbed the comment thread and turned it into an ad. (A comment thread used for GOOD instead of evil? That alone gets them a shout-out.)
Watch the spot. Read about how the campaign came together.
34. Old school apology
Yes, advertising is largely a digital game these days, but we have a soft spot for the CLASSIC advertising mediums. So Heinz’ use of old-school print (long copy!) and posters, makes us happy. This is a nice “apology” campaign for taking 150 years to introduce their new pasta sauces.
See the ads and read about the campaign.
35. Healthcare musical
If you’ve heard our theme song, you know we LOVE a a good musical idea here at SOS HQ. Australian healthcare provider Rosemary Health has created an absolutely charming earworm with their new campaign (from Milk + Honey United.) And the claymation-esque animation is tons of fun.
Watch the musical ad, see the out-of-home, and read about the campaign.
36. Ukrainian folk art in danger
Maria Prymachenko (1908–1997) is a folk artist known for her vibrant, colorful renderings of life in the Ukrainian countryside. Earlier this week, Russian attacks destroyed the museum where some of her works were housed. (According to officials, local residents were able to retrieve the pieces from the burning museum.)
See her work. Read about the attack on the museum.
37. Bracket Gap Challenge
March Madness kicks off next week and marketers are just as excited as basketball fans. (Live sports is one of the few must-see-in-real-time viewing experiences out there, and that means eyeballs for ads.) We’re big tourney fans here at SOS, but we confess that we tend to focus on the men’s tournament. Degree deodorant (with help from Edelman) has a new promotion called the “Bracket Gap Challenge” and the call to action is simple — fill out a bracket for the women’s tournament too. A smart campaign to elevate support for women’s sports.
Watch the spot. Read about the campaign.
38. Cheetos inspires hands-free innovation
Have you heard? Covid is over! (Spoiler: It’s not. But Americans are tired of it and, to be fair…vaccines! falling case rates!) So the world is opening up again. That means live events like SXSW are back, complete with their experiential activations. The brand whizzes at Cheetos (and their agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners) have turned “Cheetle” (Cheetos dust) into a cultural meme and they have a new campaign around the hands-free stuff you can do when your digits are out of commission.
Watch the spot. See the SXSW experience teaser. Read about the campaign.
39. Period poverty loophole
There have been a number of campaigns in recent years highlighting “period poverty” — the struggle to afford tampons and pads. This new one from 72andSunny takes aim at a government assistance program that will fund breakfast cereal but not menstrual products. They found a “loophole.”
Watch the video. Read about the campaign.
40. Suck your worries away
Here’s a cheeky (the hilarity of that pun will be appreciated in a moment) March Madness promotion: beer-flavored lollipops from Coors Light (and their agency Mischief.) Apparently sucking on a lolly has a calming effect that soothes jangled nerves while you’re stressing over your bracket…or something. It’s all pseudo-science marketing hoo-haw, but it’s still fun. And the best part, they’re called…“Chillollipops.” Of course, they’re already sold out; you do these sort of ideas for the PR frenzy, not because you want to get into the lollipop business.
Read about the campaign
41. Rug life
It’s always interesting to watch a DTC (direct-to-consumer) brand make the marketing leap to a bigger stage. Ruggable (they sell…rugs) is a born-on-Instagram brand that just launched their first national campaign (with help from Red Antler). Moving beyond the usual social channels, the campaign will include OOH, OTT, and other acronym’d media channels. It sports a pretty great tagline for a rug company: Take the Floor.
Watch the spot. Read about the campaign.
42. Celebrate failure
This is a fun campaign to attract job applicants. Lowe’s (the home improvement store) in Canada created an exhibit of epic DIY fails to recruit workers. The museum-like “Hall of Fail” is set up inside a mall and each “artifact” includes a QR code that takes job seekers to open positions.
Read about the campaign and see more DIY failures.
43. Eye-popping Nike
Sometimes our social feed blows up with something and we think, “Do we even need to share that thing? Everybody MUST have seen it this week.” That’s probably the case with this one, but it’s too good not to share. A Nike “3-D” billboard outside of Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. It’s the type of idea that catches eyeballs IRL and also launches a million social posts for tons of earned impressions.
See the billboard and action and read about its creation. (The gif above is just a small snippet. Plus, the sound mix is pretty great, too.)
44. Puppet fashion
Puppets made out of pre-worn fashion modeling pre-worn fashion to sell pre-worn fashion. Fun, playful work from Droga5 London for Vestiaire Collective.
See the spot. Love that the 15s are really a glimpse behind the scenes. The print is pretty great, too.
45. Life and death flowers
Not an ad campaign, but an art installation that stuck with us this week: a field of 17,000 steel flowers by Zadok Ben-David. Vibrant and colorful from one angle, black and stark from another. The craftwork on any one flower is impressive…and when you times that by 17K, it sort of melts your brain.
See the work and read about it.
46. Dream business
Maybe it’s the fact that we just met with our accountant about our tax returns (oof), but we’re feeling great admiration these days for those that take a leap to turn a dream into a business. Squarespace has two new spots targeting entrepreneurs as part of their “everything to sell anything” campaign. It’s a good line and the ads are loaded with style.
Watch one of the spots. Watch the other. Read about the campaign.
47. Trash-vertising
This week, we have garbage on the brain. A FSOS (friend of SOS) wrote this piece about how brands need to consider how they show up at their product’s “end of life.” And then, BAM, this campaign shows up from McDonald’s in Norway, encouraging people to throw away their “iconic trash.”
See the video teaser. Read about the campaign.
48. Candy FTW
Even though the calendar has turned to April, March Madness wraps up over the next few days. If you’ve been watching the games, you’ve seen a lot of big money dropped on TV campaigns made especially for the tournament. But we like this stunt from Snickers which is about as lo-fi (and low cost) as they come — a delivery of 400 candy bars to the player’s hotel.
Read the note above (or see this tweet.) Read the story behind Coach Williams’ Snickers obsession.
49. Trophy joy
We get sad that magazines aren’t what they once were, because print is such a terrific advertising medium — single-image storytelling that invites the viewer to spend some time with it. So we really like this campaign from Michelob ULTRA (and GUT) that appears, yes, in print, but also uses the images as outdoor and in social. Each ad features an arresting portrait of an athlete, reflected in a trophy they’ve just won with the line, “Joy is the ultimate trophy.”
See them all and read about the campaign.
50. Beer drops
Miller does so many of these small, one-off stunts that we really should be immune to them now, but “beer drops to give other light beers more flavor” is a pretty inspired eye-poke to the competition. Miller understands that you don’t need a million-dollar ad campaign to keep your brand in the spotlight; these short-run product stunts are low-cost/high-reward for the brewer.
Read about it.
51. No tree pee, please
If there’s a Venn diagram with “brand greenwashing” and “PR catnip,” this one sits squarely in the sweet spot. Busch beer discourages you from peeing on a tree and invites you to…pee in their cans, instead. (Yes, the jokes write themselves.) An April Fools stunt? Well, marketing in 2022 is a 24/7 April Fools stunt, so who really knows, but this is a brand that has a good sense of humor about itself, year round.
Watch the video. Read about the campaign. Order your own.
52. Oatmilk everywhere
We like this new spot from Chobani (and The Martin Agency) because a.) it’s a nice, solid 30-second TV spot with good production values and fun nods to popular culture and b.) those pop culture nods in the spot generated a whole bunch of other promo spin-offs. The rap song that you hear a snippet of? It’s on streaming platforms and will be used for TikTok challenges. That video game? Coming soon. And you just know oatmilk is going to show up on a fashion runway this spring. We like a campaign with smart, creative tentacles that reach out into all sorts of different media channels.
Watch the spot. Read about the campaign.
53. Burger alarm
Remember a few years ago when Amazon dash buttons came out? There was a month where every creative director would ask her/his teams, “Hey, see if you can come up with an idea for this.” Well, McDonalds in The Netherlands (and TBWA\Neboko) kinda-sorta just did. Introducing an in-home smoke alarm that auto-orders McDonalds delivery when you burn your dinner. Yes, it’s impractical gimmick, but it’s the sort of idea that catches attention, gets articles written, and makes you think about McDonalds delivery.
Read about it (there’s a video on the link, too.)
54. Easter keg hunt
This gets a shout-out for the pun alone. “Easter Keg Hunt” was an idea just sitting there, waiting to be discovered. Kudos to PBR (and Callen) for bringing it to life.
Watch the video. Read about the hunt.
55. Hot dog fingers
Sometimes, the best marketing ideas simply shine a light on something your fans already love. That’s what A24 is doing to promote their new film, “Everything Everywhere All At Once” (which is bonkers amazing, BTW.) There’s a fan-fave moment in the movie where Michelle Yeoh’s fingers turn to hot dogs…so they’re selling “hot dog finger gloves” (with a distinct design nod to a certain hot dog brand) at their online store. Simple, funny, fun.
56. Affirm goes for funny
Affirm is one of those buy now, pay later companies that exploded onto the scene in recent years. (So much so they even have their own acronym: BNPL.) They have a classic marketing challenge — they all do pretty much the same thing, so how do you stand out and get people to remember your name? Affirm (with help from Venables Bell & Partners) is using humor to show that they are THE way to acquire a new asset. We particularly like the spot about the bride who does NOT want to wear her mother’s wedding dress.
See the Wedding Dress spot. See the Neighbor spot. Read about the campaign.
57. Mastercard accessibility
Accessibility in advertising has been a hot topic in recent years. Mastercard (with help from McCann and director Frederik Bond) has a lovely new spot that’s intended to be as accessible to the visually impaired as the product it’s promoting. It uses the audio description of the action as an essential storytelling element rather than an optional addition.
58. Tushy gets fancy
Apparently, the bidet biz exploded during the pandemic. (When the world turns insane, at least you can keep your undercarriage clean, right?) Tushy is looking to continue the momentum with a cheeky new brand film that compares their rear-cleaners to the Bellagio fountains in Vegas. The tagline? “A symphony for your butt.”
See the spot. Read about the campaign.
59. Gamifying childhood
Another quick bonus one: an interesting campaign from Spain for Persil that uses the vernacular of video games to sell laundry detergent. Is it a little too meta for most consumers? Maybe, but we like it when brands break out of category conventions and try something different.
See the ad and read about the campaign.
60. Bud’s new musical anthem
If you’ve worked at an ad agency, you’ve spent a lot of time trying to answer the question, “How can we get the youngsters to pay attention to our brand?” Budweiser’s latest answer is, “They like music, right? And to create things?” Yesterday, they dropped a music video featuring Anderson.Paak (and a host of “creators”) to launch “a new global platform” for the brand called “Tomorrow is Yours to Take.” The song is a bop and the video is executed with loads of style by W+K…and it also feels like every Millennial and GenZ cliché ever presented in a strategy deck, thrown into the blender. Will it work? We’ll see. But until then, enjoy the craft of it all.
Watch the video. Read about the campaign.
61. This milk tastes funny
Sometimes ads should just be silly fun. That’s what Califia Farms is doing with their new oatmilk spots (by, irony alert, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, creators of the famous “Got milk?” campaign.) We especially like the mnemonic at the end where the kitchen cabinets sing, “Calilujah!”
Watch “Splits.” Watch “Handshake.” Read about the campaign.
62. Youth orchestra claps back
Last month, Infiniti put out a car commercial entitled “Beautiful Mess” where the central joke was “kid orchestras play badly.” (Way to punch down, you guys.) Well, the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra put together a perfect response ad of their own.
See the original ad (and the not-so-favorable comments.) See NBYO’s great response.
63. House flip
Gorgeous spot for UK home improvement chain B&O (by Uncommon Creative Studio.) One of those amazing I-can’t-believe-they-shot-that-practically-without-any-CGI visual stories that you want to watch more than once. And Bowie for the soundtrack!
Watch the spot. Read about it. See behind the scenes.
64. Chicagwa
Smart, fun campaign from the city of Chicago (and local agency Quality Meats) to brand their tap water as “Chicagwa.” The effort includes a limited canned edition, outdoor, and signs reading “Proudly serving Cicagwa on tap” for local restaurants to display.
See the video. Read about the campaign (and see some of the out of home.)
65. Luxe participation trophy
MSCHF (not to be confused with the agency Mischief) is a little hard to explain. They’re a creative collective that, basically, does whatever they want. From time to time, they put out limited-run, well-crafted, completely absurdist products, often as a celebrity or brand partnership. As a result, they’ve produced a slew of “I wish I’d thought of that” viral hits that can’t be ignored by any of us working in the attention economy. (They must also have some amazing lawyers, because they get sued all the time — they don’t seem to let that stop them from putting a good idea out in the world.) Their latest is $1,000 participation trophy from Tiffany. And, yes…they’re already sold out.
See the trophy. See their other drops. Read about MSCHF.
66. Posh billboard
Mobile billboards are a thing here in the U.S., but they tend to be sort of low rent — strapped to the back of a flatbed or a digital display slapped on the side of a panel truck. But Marmite decided to go ultra posh to launch a new savory flavor of their polarizing spread: gilded frames and a horse-drawn carriage.
See the ads and read about the campaign.
67. Sunny billboard
Corona employs a little shadow play in their new billboard, harnessing the power of the sun. Yes, it’s a stunt that has a limited-time payoff IRL, but the video of the billboard is as much the ad as the billboard itself.
See a video of the billboard in action. Read about the campaign.
68. Gloating billboard
We like these tongue in cheek (and true!) billboards from British oat producer Glebe Farm, who was sued by Oatly. Nice way to put a small brand on consumer’s radar.
See the ads and read about the campaign.
69. Beer billboard
Ah heck, how about one more bonus billboard? Another eye-catching OOH campaign out of the UK, this one for Guinness. We also like the media strategy — all billboards for this campaign are within 500 meters of a bar or pub.
Read about the campaign.
70. Privacy (the 🦆 way)
In the “browser wars,” DuckDuckGo is definitely David to Google’s Goliath. Their strategy: highlight their privacy features in contrast to the the big G’s data collection policies. In their new ad, they found a nice, funny use of a familiar song to make their point.
See the new spot. Read about the campaign.
71. Privacy (the 🍎 way)
You gotta feel a little for DuckDuckGo. Not only are they taking on the world’s biggest Internet company…they put out their new privacy commercial this week and hoped to make a splash…and then, Apple, the biggest marketer in the world, drops their latest opus on the exactly same topic (and 100x the budget.) It’s a well-crafted story that dramatizes head-scratchy tech topics like data auctions, and it’s told with Apple’s usual craft and panache.
See the commercial. Read about the campaign. Read about the Easter eggs in the spot.
72. Katy Perry Eats
If you’re going to pay big bucks to stick a celebrity in your ad campaign, you might as well let that celebrity do what that celebrity does best. That’s what the delivery app Just Eat (and their agency, McCann) did with Katy Perry — and she brings her signature eye-catching visual feast to the party. It features amazing costumes, production design, and a ready-for-radio jingle.
See the spot. Read about the campaign.
73. Horse mail
Iceland’s tourism board has a great sense of humor. Their newest campaign? One of the country’s horses will write your out-of-office email when you visit.
Watch the video. Read about the campaign.
74. Crispy print
Popeye’s (with help from GUT Miami) has a new campaign where they want people to destroy the ad. The print campaign uses special paper that, when you crumple it up, it matches the distinctive crunch of the chain’s fried chicken. Yes, it’s a long walk for a chicken sandwich, but we gotta give them props for an innovative approach to an old medium.
Read about the campaign (and see the long-exposure billboards, too.)
75. Beef sheets
Steak-umm is making beef bedding. Really. The campaign (from Tombras) features a website with an infomercial-like demo for the sheet set, an unboxing video, and each purchase includes a 100-minute-long CD of meat noises. Yes, they’re already sold out.
See the site (and watch the videos.) Read about the campaign.
76. Silhouettes, Styles-style
Here’s one that’s both a look back and completely of the moment. Apple just dropped a new “Silhouettes” spot to promote their new AirPods (with something called “spacial audio.”) It is, of course, a nod to the iconic iPod silhouette campaign which launched back in 2003, but can you get any more NOW than Harry Styles? His new track really shows off the surround-sound effect of the new AirPods (seriously, listen to the spot on headphones — the mix is great.)
Watch the spot. Read more about the campaign.
77. Beer shutdown
Here’s a cultural-insight-meets-tech-stunt from Heineken (and Publicis.) Work-life imbalance has been a trend for a long time, but the pandemic made it even worse. Heineken’s solution: a bottle opener that shuts down all your devices when you crack open a beer. Yes, it’s one of those make-a-few-prototype-gadgets-and-send-out-the-press-release ideas, but they’re surrounding it with a big media push, including a 2-minute brand film.
Watch the film. Read about the campaign.
78. Some plant-based funny
Swedish alt-meat brand Peas of Heaven goes the absurd humor route with its new campaign (with help from Forsman & Bodenfors.)
Watch the spot. Read about the campaign.
79. Shout out to a shut-in
When we opened Agency SOS a year ago, Bo Burnham’s “Inside” special on Netflix was one of our “3 things” recos in our very first newsletter. If you still haven’t watched it, you really should; it’s probably THE definitive art piece capturing the feeling of pandemic isolation. This week, one year after Burnham dropped the special, he released an hour of outtakes and posted them on YouTube. The new stuff is definitely “deep cuts,” but if you were a super-fan of the original, it’s a fascinating peek into a bonkers creative journey.
Oh…and here are 183 bonus links, if you’re so inclined:
Borrowed Razor | Mayhem Returns | Tiny Tools | Device Templates | Design Books | Negative Logos | Apple Saves | Rembrandt Detail | Fruit Bowls | Nuclear Vault | Denim Tap | Nervous Chairs | Pablo Balenciaga | Lay’s Dirt | Clay Warms | Hockey Hate | Campbell’s Candles | Aniston Sleeps | Parenting Questions | Mail Mag | Great Landings | Twitter Manifests | Gold Cans | Flower Therapy | Cheap Mint | M&M Makeover | Slutty Green | Climate Textiles | The Comeback | Spit Take | CGI Reactions | Doin’ Laps | Influencer Grind | Ball Pass | Bobs Assemble | Google Draw | Stock Trends | Folgers Reputation | Ginny Bahr | Lego MRI | Velveeta Gold | Pringles Refresh | Blunt Adrenaline | Hill House | Stink Identity | Visit California | Tucci Pellegrino | Deepfake Dolph | Dew Return | Hwy Code | Jenga Skills | Adidas Impossible | Cold Pitch | Cadbury Classic | Peloton Print | Animated Commute | Wooly Pizza | Ballvertising | No Plastic Mart | More This | Brilliance Deck | Jack Attacks | BK Meat? | Swim Billboard | Little Outdoorsy | Barclaycard Hammers | Photo Winners | Good Pubes | Missing Movies | Salesforce Sculpture | Office Escape | Rescue Doodles | Opinion Gauntlet | Phillies Billboards | Truly Flavor | Client Insight | Poop Dessert | Cosplay Kids | Cheesy Single | Rocket Screamer | Kombucha Packaging | Proto Holograms | Incontinent Billboard | Popeyes Grammy | Sports Equity | Illuminated Inflatables | Zillow Swims | Struggle Bus | Hologram Tech | Slush Ring | Skittles Apology | Coachella Potatoes | Cracker Jill | Joshua Timelapse | Post-It Palette | Hulu IDs | Eames Logo | Houseplant Hotel | Care Coalition | Logo Regeneration | Death Coupon | Tiger Golf | Shivering Billboard | Halo Top | Embroidered Photos | Blue Bunny | Guitar G | James Squire | Easy Availability | Cross-Reality Retail | Virgin Anthem | Confusing Times | Airheads Fun | Scrub Daddy | Chicago Collage | Short Dew | Sonic Billboards | Netflix Yarn | Nike Pop-Up | Snickers Veins | Van Deusen | Dry Sage | Henny Hoops | Meme-able Masks | Rams Heist | kanahebi FLOW | Type Video | Robotic LEDs | ESPN App | New IPAs | Disney Decor | Museum Piece | Post-It Passwords | Porsche Classic | Dr. Umstick | Amino Alebrijes | Pepsi Quit | Virtual Influencers | Stinky Gamers | Sweetgreen Ambassadors | Heineken Fans | Pregnancy Whopper | AHA OOH | Chillboards | Phone Bliss | The Name | Subway Drone | Boddingtons Classic | Ratatouille Lessons | Pride Oreos | Jenkins Sculptures | Air France | Plasticine Whimsy | Goop Diaper | Aspirin Pocket | Lively Lacoste | Seeking Bradleys | Walken Acorns | Blackmon’s Back | LinkedIn Brag | Beyond Meat | Anywhere But | Pepsi Pepperoni | Audio Aged | Cluttercore | Pitch Honesty | Gushers Sneakers | 80s Editorial | Griller Time | Aging Jeans | Word Pay | Volkswagen Humor | Dog Song | Un-burnable Handmaid | B&Q Outdoor | Stranger Stunt | Skywalker Sound | Bean Break | Stop Motion Woodworking | Beer Officiants | Shir Pakman | Recruiter Rap | Frida Baby
PREVIOUSLY: 75 Things That Caught Our Eye in Late 2021
NEW: 85 Creative Campaigns That Caught Our Eye in Late 2022
FAVORITES: My Top 10 Favorite Campaigns of 2022
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Kovacevich is a creative director and the founder of Agency SOS. He writes a weekly email highlighting three bits of creative inspiration for modern marketers. You can subscribe, if you’d like.
