89 Creative Campaigns That Caught Our Eye in the First Half of 2024
Creative inspiration for the modern marketer from the past six months
Each Friday, Agency SOS puts out a short email newsletter with three things that caught our eye that week — campaigns, PR stunts, art installations, branded entertainment, and other inspiring bits.
Most marketers are so mired in the day-to-day on their own brands, they often miss interesting ideas from 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 really should! (Listen to these people.)
Here are the 89 campaigns (in chronological order) that grabbed our attention from January to June.
01. Mascot meal
The culmination of the college football season (American football, international readers) has changed a lot in the last 30 years. In the early 90s, corporate sponsors rushed to attach their name to end-of-season “bowl games.” The result has been ripe for parody for a long time.
So when a sponsor finds a way to transcend the ridiculousness of it all and elbow its way to the forefront of pop culture, you have to tip your hat. That’s exactly what Pop-Tarts did in the Pop-Tarts Bowl this year. At the end of the game they TOASTED THEIR MASCOT AND LET THE WINNING TEAM CONSUME IT. The Internet lost their minds.
Watch the mascot get toasted and consumed. Read about it.
(This went on to win the Cannes Lions Grand Prix a few months later. Watch the case study.)
02. Sing your sadness
NerdWallet (and Deutsch L.A.) go the musical route to talk to “future GenZers” in 2074. Bemoaning your financial failures is better as a song!
Watch “Work,” “Vacation,” and the full “Future You” anthem. Read about it.
03. Real weird
This one from CashApp (and Mischief) came out right before the holiday and we love the funny-creepy vibe. And 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 for the tagline: “”If it’s weird for real, it’s weird for real.”
Watch “Giveaway,” “Cash Flip,” and “Customer Service.” Read about the campaign.
04. Generation 🐑
In the U.S., the Super Bowl is the biggest stage in advertising. In the U.K., it’s the holiday ads that grab the brightest spotlight. And in Australia, the hotly anticipated ad campaign that’s released each January for “Australia Day” is from …the LAMB industry? Yep. And they’ve dropped some great ones over the years. The 2024 version (from agency The Monkeys) is out and it’s a 3-minute epic about the generation gap and how (you guessed it!) lamb can bridge the divide.
Watch it. Read about it. (Previous: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2005–2016)
05. Suspicious🍦
If he’s lying about his ice cream, what else is he lying about? That’s the idea behind this new one from Magnum (and LOLA MullenLowe) and their “Stick to the original” campaign. (Bravo on the tagline wordplay.) The spot is loaded with premium visual style and bonus points for the use of Vivaldi’s Magnum Opus for the track.
06. Celebrity cart
With so many liquor brands going “full celebrity,” you have to hand it to Tito’s (and agency Arts & Letters) for employing a “spokescart.” That’s right…instead of an A-lister touting the spirit, they have an anthropomorphic bar cart that pours your vodka and lends a hand with whatever task you’re facing. (Thanks for the bath bomb, bar cart!)
Watch “Bathside Service,” “Rolling Retriever,” “Cabana,” and “Third Wheel.” Read about it.
07. Coffee rats
As Muse by Clio writes, “We’ve got an early contender for the most sublimely stupid ad of the year.” And we are HERE for it! Coffee roaster GoodBoyBob gave the creative keys to agency Erich & Kallman and they created a visual that will be hard to forget. (Um, anybody else curious about the lab experiments that resulted in these babies?!)
08. Ahh, nuts!
We love a good campaign of 15-second spots! This one from Planters (and BBDO MW) has all the right ingredients: a simple, repeatable formula; they don’t try to do too much; they’re funny with good performances. The idea of turning the phrase “Ahh, nuts!” from a negative to a positive is silly and charming. We bet in the real world, these folks might drop an F-bomb or two. But the goofy wholesomeness of the idea is part of its appeal.
Watch “ATM,” “Lure,” Seltzer,” and “Vending Machine.” Read about it.
09. Extreme DIY
Another simple idea paid off with weird concept and great performances (especially the scarecrow lady!) This new campaign from Kayak (and agency Supernatural) is called “Don’t do it yourself” and they illustrate the pitfalls of the DIY life with some extreme examples.
Watch “Scarecrow,” “Vacuum,” and “Mall Fishing.” Read about it.
10. Drive time
Sometimes, we think “Does the world’s best advertiser really need ANOTHER one of their ads featured in our little newsletter?” We like calling out the undiscovered gems! But Apple puts out so many great campaigns, we can’t resist. This week’s new release made us legit LOL when we saw it air recently — a dad’s agony over his new teen driver. A pitch-perfect performance, marvelous use of music, and another top-notch product demo. (The two other new ones in the series are great, too.)
Watch “New Driver,” “One More,” and “Swoop.” Read about the campaign.
11. Poopin’ time
A three-minute conversation about pooping probably isn’t on your “must watch” list, but Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer (of Broad City fame) bring their charming comedy chops to the concept for MiraLAX. If you’re gonna do this thing (and lots of brands hand you the “talk about our product for three minutes” brief), this is a good example of how to do it with a light touch.
12. Not drive time
Tis the season when agencies around the globe release “new print work” that’s really designed for the award show circuit as much as any print publication. It’s all a bit of an ethical gray area as to whether these are real “ads” or just beautifully designed spec work, but we can appreciate the craft, nonetheless. BBDO Proximity and KIA Colombia have this new series out which uses the design language of mobile apps to warn against distracted driving.
See them all.
13. Groundhog Lays
For Groundhog Day, Frito Lay is running 8 different ads across all programming on ABC. The spots feature Stephen Tobolowsky from the 1993 movie “Groundhog Day” who is stuck in his own potato-chip time loop. It’s not the first campaign to mine the classic movie, but it’s an interesting use of linear TV in an era when so many are investing in streaming buys.
Plus, it shows the power of celeb ownership of your agency (Maximum Effort) when you can just call up the chief creative officer at Pepsi, pitch him an idea, and cut through the months and layers that bog down (and kill) most ideas. They got this made in two weeks! 🤯
Watch them all. Read about the campaign.
14. Sad celery
Yes, this campaign is drafting off the pre- Super Bowl hoopla (and we avoid covering big game ads until the big game) but it’s a clever-enough side-step that we’re going to allow it! In the run up to “the biggest dipping day of the year” Jif looks to “save the celery” and slather it with peanut butter instead of throwing it in the trash. The campaign features a microsite and a big emotional anthem to make you feel sympathy for the fibrous stalk. (Evoking the classic “Ikea lamp” spot, if you ask us.)
Watch the ad. See the site. Read about the campaign.
15. Pasta fitness
We like this zig-while-the-others-zag idea from fitness brand Les Mills (and nice&frank) to launch a limited-edition pasta called “spaghetti legs.” It’s a nice play on the wobbly-leg feeling you get after a good workout and the line “get sweaty, eat spaghetti” is fun. (Oh, and it’s another creative campaign that came together in days, not months.)
See and read about the campaign.
16. Goodbye pie
If you’re going to launch a non-Super Bowl promotion the week before the Super Bowl, when so many other brands are clamoring for attention with teasers and stunts, your idea better have an edge to it.
Breaking up via pizza is an idea with edge! Pizza Hut (with help from Mischief) launched “Goodbye Pies” so you could have the delivery guy do the deed for you. Yes, it’s a PR stunt (and a little cruel, TBH) but nobody’s really going to get dumped this way and it’s the sort of creative idea that gets tons of coverage for a lot less than it costs to run an SB ad.
(Also, in terms promoting the new hot honey pizza, it’s less thirsty than trying to coin a catchphrase, like the TV ads.)
See the site. Watch the TikTok. Read about the campaign.
17. Fishy diamond
Let’s just say up front that this idea is ridiculous. But when you see a headline that says, “A&W Restaurants made a diamond ring from carbon extracted from its fish sandwiches,” you have to dig a little deeper. The Valentine’s Day promotion (made with help from Cornett) plugs their fish sandos in way we definitely haven’t seen before. And the line “make it o-fish-ial” is either wonderful or groan-worthy, depending on your POV. (We love a terrible pun!)
See the promo. Read about the campaign.
18. Stolen glasses
This print (outdoor?) campaign from Stella Artois (and DAVID New York) is almost certainly award-show bait, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t good. Based on a simple insight: our glasses (and beer) are so good, sometimes people steal them. VML Chile also made a line of clothing to help people steal the chalices.
See all four print ads. Watch the video about the clothing line and read about the campaign.
19-24. Our 6 Favorite Ads of Super Bowl 2024
Click here to watch our favorites and read more
Reese’s
The Reese’s spot was one of the few this year not to feature a celebrity and it was better for it. It let the product news (now with caramel) be the hero. It was well-constructed as a :30 (not a cutdown of a longer spot) with a simple structure and good gags that let the over-the-top humor shine.
CeraVe
The Michael Cera ad was an ad that ad people are supposed to like…but we still liked it. It’s corny and silly — of course the actor didn’t create the skin care line. But the 30-second spot doubled-down on its one joke and didn’t try to do too much more. The campaign really shined in the weeks leading up to the game with clever social/stunt/PR/influencer activations. Read more about it at the link above.
Google
Google does “emotional product demo” better than anybody. No, this one doesn’t rise to the level of a classic like “Dear Sophie” but it shows off tech that makes life a little better for people with blindness and low vision. The line “three faces in frame” is a lovely payoff at the end.
Etsy
Etsy’s spot felt “Super Bowl big” without trying to do too much. It stayed focused on the main message: Etsy is good for the hard-to-find gift. Also, points for no celebs and the absurdist historical “realism.”
Volkswagen
VW opts for pure nostalgia and a 1971 Neil Diamond track, but when an anthem is this well-crafted, you don’t mind. We appreciate the fact that they didn’t tart it up with a manifesto voice over that it didn’t need.
Dunkin’
There was WAY too much use of celebrities across the board (PSA: celebrity is not an idea, brands) but Dunkin’ probably made the best use of their famous faces. Affleck is over the top, JLo keeps the thing grounded, and Matt Damon knows how dumb the it all is so we can laugh at the stupidity.
Plus, read our take on the head-to-head battles between the Flashdance song spots, Brady vs. Brady, Taylor vs. Beyoncé, and the dueling Jesuses.
You can also watch ALL the 2024 spots at this link.
25. Burger leak
Here’s an example of a Super Bowl ad that was sort of meh but the campaign surrounding the promotion was pretty great. Carl’s Jr. used their big game spot to promote “free burger day” on Monday. But we really liked the “leaked” internal videos preparing employees for the onslaught. The campaign (by agency Callen) perfectly captures the 80s-vibe of corporate training vids. And the CMO “apology” is a fun wink at the all-too-familiar somebody-is-going-to-complain ad backlash cycle.
Watch “fan,” “dos and don’ts,” “bbq sauce,” and “customer devices.” Watch CMO apology.
26. Egg eyes
With Valentine’s Day behind us, we now turn our attention to the SUPERIOR candy holiday: Easter. Cadbury (and VCCP London) just launched a new campaign for the creme egg that reintroduces their classic tagline, “How do you eat yours?” The spot released this week focuses on Heather, who likes to eat her creme egg while maintaining eye contact…which is a little creepy, but it results in a delightful ad.
Watch it. Read about it (and see the outdoor posters.)
27. The Last Repair Shop
This isn’t an ad campaign…it’s a really wonderful 40-minute documentary. In a nondescript warehouse in Los Angeles, a dwindling handful of devoted craftspeople maintain more than 80,000 musical instruments for public school students. It’s a beautiful film that is nominated for an Oscar and you can watch it for free at the link below.
Watch the trailer. Watch the whole movie.
28. Manga McD’s
McDonalds is paying tribute to how it’s often depicted in anime and manga — as “WcDonald’s” — with a new sauce, packaging, episodic shorts, and more. The first episode won’t be out until next week, but the campaign is a good example of how brands are embracing niche fandom.
See the site (first film drops Monday.) Read about the campaign.
P.S. Zoe Scaman has been writing for years about how “fandom” has become one of the dominant social currencies. Read her “New Formula for Fandom.”
29. Spit take
Sometimes simple (and a little stupid) is the way to go. Currys, the UK’s largest tech retailer, uses the good old-fashioned spit take to promote their trade-ins. And then they doubled-down on it and used the formula again and again and again…
Watch “Small Appliance,” “Mobile,” “TV,” “Gaming” . Read about the campaign.
30. Snap visuals
Snapchat launched this campaign during the Super Bowl, but it got a little lost in the shuffle. The manifesto anthem is sort of “pitch video-y” but we dig the layered collage visuals…and enjoyed reading more about the approach from multimedia artist Xander Opiyo.
Watch the full anthem. Read how Opiyo created the visuals.
31. Mayo mouth
Sir Kensington (and VML) go surreal to move the mayo. Dig the visual style, the quirky rhythm of the VO, and “Obey tongue” is a great line.
Watch all three and read about the campaign.
32. Gap’s back
Back in the late 90s, The Gap launched an incredibly popular series of ads where folks in their clothes danced to great songs. (Remember “Khaki Swings” from 1998?) Charitably, Gap hasn’t been a brand at the center of pop-culture for a long time. So it’s interesting to see them uncork a bottle of the old pixie dust with their new ad — a continuation of the classic series, with a modern spin. Inspired by Jungle’s “Back on 74” music video, it features the original choreography by Shay Latukolan and lots of linen.
Watch it. Read this great breakdown about why it’s smart. Read more.
33. Long lighthouse story
In a world of 6-second ads and you-have-to-show-the-logo-at-the-beginning “rules,” we realize that a 90-second ad that doesn’t reveal the brand until two-thirds of the way through (and is really just a long story to tee up a single line of copy) is a luxury few campaigns can indulge in. But this one for Volkswagen (from DDB Australia) is charming.
34. Marta markets Marta
Unfortunately, WAY too many people in the ad business are looking for work right now. Ironically, a lot of people in marketing are terrible at marketing themselves. But in this market, advertising YOURSELF may be the most important thing you can do for your career.
In that vein, a product marketing manager from Madrid named Marta Puerto made one of our favorite ads this week: one for herself.
Watch it. (And see the likes and reactions below her post! 🤯)
P.S. FWIW, John has job hunting tips: You need to be prepared. How to tell people you’re available. Tips for new grads.
35. Ball boys
For the record, we don’t really think of “hair down there” as a problem that needs a solution. But Manscaped is selling the smooth lifestyle and they found a way to bring it to life with a (wait for it…) ballsy new ad. The spot (from Pereira O’Dell) raises a question or two (isn’t that much hair a possible medical condition, not a grooming issue?) but it’s certainly one way to get the Internet talking.
36. Tummy rumbles
The fastest way to sell anything, these days (including a campaign) is to slap “A.I.” on it. Australian chicken chain Red Rooster goes the robot route with its latest, but they’re clearly in on the joke. They (and agency whiteGrey) created a “smart t-shirt” that monitors your tummy rumbles and orders your meal accordingly. (You’ll be happy to know that the tech ignores belches, heartbeats and flatulence.) You can even submit your own stomach sounds to win a year of free chicken. Yes, it’s ridiculous, but it’s definitely not your same-old fast food campaign.
Watch the promo and read about the campaign. Visit the site.
37. Heart strings
“Make it real” gets chased a lot in advertising, but it’s harder to pull it off than you would think. The act of capturing something and turning it into advertising often changes the alchemy of a moment and can make it feel manufactured. This work from Walt Disney World avoids those pitfalls and elicits genuine emotion. It came out a few months ago, but we just saw it and really like it.
Watch it.
38. Kim’s Skims
Love ’em or hate ’em, the Kardashians know a thing or two about marketing. This week, during the Oscars, Kim dropped a new campaign (from W+K Portland) to promote her Skims shapewear line. The spacey, over-the-top “origin story” is a visual feast and a winky nod to the founder’s celebrity.
39. Kids win
The ad world is grappling with the implications of A.I. and what it means for the future of our business. (FWIW, this less-than-optimistic take rings true.) We’re in the early days of brands using the tech to create campaigns, but Lunchables (and Goodby Silverstein & Partners) found a fun POV: it’s not as good as kid’s imagination.
40. The critique is in
This is “inside baseball,” but it’s super fun. To promote their award show, AICP has a new film that satirizes something all of us in ad land are familiar with — client feedback. Vincent Van Gogh gets some “helpful” notes (“the client loved the painting…just just found it a little dark”) as does Frida Kahlo. Laugh between the tears, ad friends!
Watch it. Read about it. (Watch the “focus group” companion film.)
41. Fan frenzy
It’s March Madness! Lots of tournament-specific campaigns launched this week. We like this one from Coke that celebrates fans trying to make free-throw shooters miss. We also can’t imagine the talent budget for this many faces in a spot! Kudos to Coke and agency Cartwright for finding a way to make the fans feel authentic.
42. Smell song
This new spot from men’s grooming brand Every Man Jack (and agency Party Land) shows that you CAN crash into a hornet’s nest and still smell good. It owes more than a small debt to the great Old Spice work of recent years, but it’s well done and has a great song (which we are suckers for.)
43. Coffee fix
“Problem-solution” ads are as old as advertising. You dramatize “the before” with all its complication and mess. Then you show how YOUR product is the solution to all those troubles and then show “the after” with its sunshine and rainbows. And yet, there are a million ways these ads can miss the mark and feel cheesy. So we’re going to give a thumbs-up to this new one from Philips (and agency Droga5) that promotes their Baristina espresso maker. They take a tongue-in-cheek approach to show how complicated coffee has become and set their machine up as the simple solution.
44. Welcome to AL
It’s not every day you get to help a brand introduce a game-changing innovation. Element[AL] Wines just launched a first-of-its-kind aluminum wine bottle. And while the new bottle has big sustainability implications, the brief called for lifestyle, not lessons. The resulting campaign (from us here at Agency SOS!) is more sparkle-and-vibes than save-the-planet. It’s fun, frothy, and fashionable and will show up everywhere from connected TV to outdoor to fashion magazines.
Watch the anthem. Read about the campaign and see more of the work.
45. Whine time
Apple does it again! They turn a boring-on-paper feature (lots of storage) into a consumer benefit (“don’t worry about deleting photos”) and then find an eye-and-ear-catching way to bring it to life. Would have loved to have been at the meeting where they pitched, “Pictures on the iPhone are going to whine, ‘don’t let me go’ through a talkbox and it’s going to be great.” Simple and silly FTW.
Watch it.
46. Wee sign
Cadbury mini-eggs are the greatest candy on the planet. (We will accept no counter argument.) So, of course, we have to applaud these mini-billboards for sweet treat.
See the billboards and social. Read about the campaign.
47–56. Fool me once…
It’s become an annual tradition for brands to roll out April Fools’ Day pranks. To say that the quality and humor vary wildly is an understatement. But here are a few that we enjoyed:
7–11: Hot dog-flavored sparking water. Wanna try it?
Duolingo: Duolingo on Ice. (Fun ticketing tie-in.)
Empire State Building: World’s Highest Rainforest Cafe.
Tinder: Seeks VP of Ghosting.
Hidden Valley & Smarties: Hidden Valley Ranch Smarties.
Kraft: Fruity-Pepples Flavored Mac & Cheese.
Old Bay Seasoning: Old Bay Body Scrub.
Scotch Tape: Scotch Whiskey.
Velveeta: Velveeta Hair dye. (Wait. This one is real.)
Cricket: Chair Phone. (Wait, that one is real, too?!)
Andy Pearson from Liquid Death seemed to suggest that marketing would be a hell of a lot more fun if brands lived every day like April Fools Day.
57–61. Sun vs. Moon
A bunch of brands are using the April 8 solar eclipse to roll out promotions and stunts:
Sun Chips has a special flavor that will only be available for the duration of the eclipse.
Krispy Kreme is dropping an eclipse doughnut.
Moon Pie is offering a “Solar Eclipse Survival Kit” with a wrestling-themed promo.
Sonic is releasing a Blackout Slush Float (complete with eclipse viewing glasses.)
Blue Moon is offering “Eclipse Sips” glasses and one lucky winner will win a 20-year supply of beer (to hold them over until the next eclipse.)
62. Doomed Outdoor
We like this “Most Disastrous Campaign Ever” from insurer Hiscox (and agency Uncommon.) Billboards, installations, and direct mail focus on data breaches and other miscues.
See the campaign and read about it.
63. Easy outdoor
Easy Jet had an interesting week, ad wise. Early in the week, the image below started circulating on social media — a “dueling billboard” response to the minimalist British Airways outdoor campaign. But it was fake; it never really ran. Just a comp that got attention on social. It overshadowed a REAL activation by Easy Jet where they put live pilots on a billboard to find the next generation of aviators.
See the REAL campaign. Read this take on “fake ads.” And, for a counter point, this take.
64. Awful sleepers
We love a simple premise. “How do AWFUL people sleep at night? On a Mattress Firm mattress.” Nice work from the mattress store (and agency Fallon.) Take that, client-who-says-the-hero-of-your-ad-needs-to-be-likable!
Watch “Nana Sleeps Hot” and “Barefoot Guy” and “Gross Dipper.”
65. Food feelings
Another simple set up… “That’s the best feeling in the world! Well, not better than Burger King.” Goofy fun from BBH London for Burger King U.K. Feels like they might be working a bit too hard to make “foodfillment” happen, but we do stan a surreal spokesman.
Watch the spots and read about the campaign.
66. Not so handy
Having worked there for many years, I can confirm that the creative briefs at Goodby Silverstein & Partners always contain some weird, well-researched insight from the planning department. “People eat Cheetos with their dominant hand” is one such insight and the resulting campaign for the snack is a fun and funny exploration. A Cheetos-dust-covered thumbs up on the what-if absurdity.
Watch the spot. See the outdoor and fun tie-in with basketball player Jamal Murray.
67. Hockey love
To be honest, we’re not big hockey fans. But this new campaign for the Stanley Cup Playoffs (from agency Highdive) tells compelling, relatable stories. For example: throwing fish onto the ice to celebrate… something is, apparently, a thing. It begs the question: how do you get a fish past security? They answer that question and more in this fun series of crazy love stories.
Watch “Catfish,” “Tattoo,” and “Not Together.” Read about the campaign.
68. Fiiiiiiingers
Anybody who has played with the various A.I. image generators knows they have a problem with fingers. Namely, they often include too many leading to results that fall somewhere on the scale from hilarious to horrifying. KFC (and Leo Burnett Chicago) turned this bug into feature. After all, when your tagline is “finger lickin’ good,” the more fingers, the better.
Watch it.
69. Dark smells
Oh, you know…just your average corpse-smells-so-good-you-want-to-climb-into-the-coffin spot. Lynx (and LOLA MullenLowe) go absurdly dark in these two new ads to promote their body spray. Funerals and robberies aren’t your typical settings for CPG commercials; we applaud the humorous approach.
Watch “Funeral” and “Robbery.” Read about the campaign.
70. BBQ weather
Since we’re based in San Francisco where summer weather is not all that summer-y, we have a special place in our heart for the UK, which also doesn’t have much in the way of “barbecue season.” This new spot for KFC in Britain (from agency Mother) shows that crummy weather doesn’t mean you can’t get your BBQ on. (Also, hello Michael McDonald!)
71. Stay Up
A few years back, you couldn’t present a pitch deck without a themed AirBNB idea. Whether anybody would ever stay in it or not was beside the point. “Spend a night in the Reeses Pieces Suite” (or whatever it was) got a client’s PR spidey-senses tingling. AirBNB itself embraced the over-the-top-stay trend and has rolled out lots of them over the years. So we should be completely immune to their charms…but they just unveiled the house from the Pixar movie “Up” and it really floats! A gimmick, to be sure, but c’mon…that’s a good gimmick. So good, The New York Times wrote a long feature about it.
Read about it. Watch the teaser. See the others in their new Icons category (including a peek behind the scenes)
72. Meat evangelist
Impossible Foods has been on quite a roll the last few weeks. They launched a big rebrand, opened a cow sanctuary, and now they have a new spot. The funny walk-n-talk spokesman (from Erich and Kallman, an agency that knows how to do funny walk-n-talk spokesmen) looks like he’s put away a burger or two in his time, which gives him the credibility for straight talk about “meat” from plants.
Watch it and read about the campaign.
73. Murder Man
Liquid Death appears in this newsletter so frequently, we usually think twice about including another one of their creative campaigns. But developing an animated series called “Murder Man” where your brand is the villain and letting the creators go as FAR OUT as they want is something you don’t see from brands every day.
Watch the trailer. Hear from the CEO about why they’re making it.
74. Flavor mayhem
If you’ve worked in advertising at some point during the last 25 years, there was a day when somebody asked, “Have you ever seen the Blackcurrant Tango ad?” It defined the 1990s era of over-the-top commercial excess and inspired many a creative team. Tango has a new series of ads (from VCCP London). They may not be in the same league as Ray Gardner, but they do capture the brand’s humorous heritage.
Watch “Warden” and “Bust.” Read about the campaign
(P.S. For you ad nerds, here’s a behind-the-scenes on the making of the classic Blackcurrant ad.)
75. Flappy cheeks
Sometimes a great visual unlocks a whole campaign. Those slow-mo films of faces getting warped by leaf blowers have been around for awhile, but Auto Glass Now (and Erich & Kallman) found the perfect use for the technique: a joke about driving without a windshield.
Watch “Forgot,” “Feeling Alive!” and “Phone.” Read about the campaign.
76. So many Dicks
We did not have “beauty brand takes on board diversity” on our bingo card, but it’s a fascinating strategic play by e.l.f. Cosmetics. The “Soooo many Dicks” headline grabs attention, but highlights a real statistic: there are more men named Dick (Richard, Rich, and Rick) on corporate boards than entire groups of underrepresented people. The campaign includes a microsite, video, splashy out-of-home, and a big PR push.
Visit the site. Watch the video. See the outdoor.
77. Charming delivery
This launched a few months ago, but we just saw them, dig them, and are sharing them. Sometimes we catch spots so delightful we wonder, “How did THAT get through the over-thinking gauntlet that plagues modern advertising?!” These little 15s (we love a great 15!) for Delivereasy, a New Zealand food delivery service, are funny and weird and charming.
Watch “Little Birdie,” “Important Jobs,” “Extra Kilometre,” “Tell Your Mate’s Mate,” and “More Than You Think.” Read about the campaign.
78. Airheads welcome
The Sullenberger Aviation Museum in Charlotte, NC, has a cute new campaign out. These two spots (from agency Luquire) promote a different type of “airhead.”
Watch “Turbulence” and “Pop Fly.” Read about it.
79. Airheads wet
Airheads made an underwater vending machine. The press release touts some strategy/idea layer about getting adults back in the pool? Whatever…sometimes a cool activation is just a cool activation.
Watch it. Read about it. See the site.
80. Tubi does numbers
“Data driven” campaigns have been a thing since Spotify perfected the genre with their annual “Wrapped” effort. In their latest, Tubi finds a fun way to use numbers to make a point: a lot of people watch it (and, by implication, maybe you should too.) Using “75 million” over and over again to show that they are more popular than lots of other things is a good repeatable device that leads to nice spots and outdoor.
Watch “Divorce,” “Babies,” “Drinking Fountains,” and “Old Faithful.” See the outdoor and read about the campaign.
81. Picture font
Can a font be a font if it doesn’t actually include any letters from the alphabet? Designer Andrew Bellamy thinks so. His new Poly Mono is a “game font” made of shapes that creates Karel Martens-inspired prints.
See it in action (and download for free.) Read about it.
82. Henson dreams
We recommend this wonderful documentary about the creator of Sesame Street, The Muppets, Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth. Jim Henson had a profound impact on creativity throughout his life (and was especially influential to those of us who were kiddos in the 70s and 80s.)
Watch the trailer. Read about the film. Watch the film.
83. Backpack blues
When you’re marketing to the GenZ on the TikTok, it’s important not to take yourself too seriously. JanSport (and agency Party Land) got the memo with their back-to-school campaign. It positions the humble backpack as the #1 defense against relatable (but slightly absurd) everyday moments in 9 (!) different spots. (Hey, olds, hate the off-key singing? That’s the point!)
Watch “Murder of Crows,” “Toilet & Texting,” “Why Don’t They Make Men Like JanSports?” “People Pleaser,” “Buffer Bag,” “R.I.P. Jiggy,” “Lack of Outdoorsiness,” “Why Am I On a Plane?” and “Existing in Your Existence.” Read about the campaign.
84. Mannequin moves
In an era where A.I. renders are taking over, we appreciate a spot that was shot practically with…mannequins. The campaign by international gum brand Air Action Vigorsol (from BBH London) is supposed to show “the transformative effects of fresh breath” but, really, the dummy slapstick just makes us laugh.
85. PBC goes big
Jif launched its new peanut-butter-and-chocolate-blend with a big budget, Succession-style story called “The Merger.” The spot (from BBH) tells the tale of “big peanut butter” and “big chocolate” coming together.
86. Cannes case study palooza
It’s the end of Cannes Lions week — advertising’s biggest award show, festival, and boondoggle. So we’re highlighting the winners that caught our eye.
Yes, the festival excesses (and millions spent) are eye-roll-y. But the top work is still inspiring and the case studies are a masterclass in business storytelling.
Watch all the Grand Prix-winning cases here.
FWIW, I think Spotify Spreadbeats was the most impressive thing I saw this year. Watch the case study here (or watched the extended case study for an even more technical deep dive.)
87. So over Oslo
This is a really nice piece of tourism marketing. Instead of blathering on about all the wonderful things about Oslo, the Norwegian tourism board found a guy to tell you how much he hates it. He asks, “Is it even a city?”
P.S. This is a completely different campaign from Norway that came out this week (and we’re not sure what they’re advertising), but let’s just say that Norwegians seem rad.
88. Here comes the sun
IKEA brings the sunshine with this nice little outdoor stunt that uses one of its mirrors to brighten shady cafes.
See it and read about it.
89. Can you own an aesthetic?
As strategist Steve Walls asked in a recent LinkedIn post, “Is there any question more inane, when it comes to positioning (or even a tagline) than ‘is it ownable?’”
He points out that just about every famous position or tagline COULD have applied to a competitor. But marketing/advertising/branding is the act of CLAIMING it.
A new piece from It’s Nice That asks a similar question worth unpacking: “Can you really own an aesthetic?”
We tell creatives (especially in the design world) to develop their own unique style. But what happens when that style becomes widely adopted and even copied?
314 Bonus Bits
Yeah, we include bonus links in each issue. Here are all 314. Some gems in here, so click away!
👩❤️👨 Candy hearts go blurry for “situationships”
👣 Guinness “foot pints”
🔌 Sad outlet sings in new Apple spot.
❤️ New year, new love? Tinder drops its latest.
🎸Girl Jams from Girls Who Code.
🔘 Flat buttons going bye bye?
🍗 WhataBurger introduces WhataWings.
📚 Great collection of vintage advertising annuals.
⭐️ Are “north star metrics” good or bad?
🍔 McD’s billboard goes out of bounds.
🍪 Girl Scout Cookie…deodorant?!
🥤This has really good performances, but does anybody else cringe at these product-placement-palooza spots?
🙌🏻 New York lottery gets extremely handsy in new ad.
🏈 ESPN crafts a BIG ring for national championship.
⛳️ Topgolf found a clever way to piggy-back on the news of Tiger leaving Nike.
🍫 Cadbury celebrates 200 years.
🪑 Household items escape.
👯♂️ Publicis made 100K personalized thank-you videos for their employees.
🏋🏻♂️ Equinox gets artsy.
🌈 Colorful sculpture from Sam Wilde.
🥽 Can you imagine what it must be like to have Apple’s licensing budget?
🤷🏻♂️ A lot of dudes on LinkedIn seemed to have a lot of opinions about this new Calvin Klein campaign. (This buy-the-couch promo is a fun hype hijack.)
📻 Japanese department store Parco gets strange in new campaign.
💄 e.l.f. made a 14-minute true crime-style mockumentary called “Cosmetic Criminals.”
👯♀️ This fashion show gimmick is fun.
👉🏻 There’s a lot of hand-wringing about Faux OOH, but gigantic-watch-ski-lift thing is pretty good.
🗽 Amazon billboards in NYC.
🐜 Cardboard insects.
🌋 BK lays claim to a volcanic island.
🔪 IKEA invents fake brand to sell kitchens.
🔥 Seems like everybody has a take on that Snoop & Solo Stove campaign. Including John. (Postscript: the case study that came out later is pretty compelling.)
💥 7 visual trends to keep an eye on in 2024.
🩰 This promo for a new dance piece from New York City Ballet.
🍺 A German beer brand just released this shot-for-shot parody of the CK ad that got everybody hot and bothered.
🚗 Three nuns get a flat tire…
🚪 Loads of production value in this new DoorDash campaign.
🛳 We’re not really cruise ship people, but these kinetic tiles are going to lead to some cool IRL installations.
🔤 Artofthetitle.com is an amazing resource if you want to nerd out about film titles.
💕 Lovely campaign about empathy.
🩴 Flip flop art.
🍅 Heinz has a new campaign…but this blurry ad might be better.
🏆 Entries may be open, but some food for thought before you enter Cannes Lions.
🇨🇦 Canada tourism opens the DinkDunk Pickleball Spa to attract guests.
👄 Ranch-flavored lip balm. Yes, these stunt-y “food mash-ups” exist only for the earned media hits…but they’re still PR catnip.
🤡 The story behind the birth of the world’s most hated font: Comic Sans.
💝 Kotex is releasing “Let’s have period sex” chocolates.
🌇 When the brief is “make an epic spot to launch a new city.”
👷🏻 When the solution to the brief is, “Use that Dirty Dancing track to show how much fun it is to work in a warehouse.”
😍 Teleflora says “believe in love” this Valentine’s day.
👃🏼 There is faux-outdoor and then there’s faux-outdoor with a truck snorting cocaine.
🎂 Etsy has a new ad featuring cowgirls trapped in a cake.
🤳🏻 A lot of augmented-reality feels like rubbish, but this virtual tour is cool.
😭 John’s tough-love take on the advertising job market.
🔥 THIS is how you do “I just got laid off” content on LinkedIn.
📢 One of those hijack-the-Super-Bowl-hoopla campaigns: Liquid Death is offering brands a chance to run an ad on their packaging.
👯♂️ Even better…this seasoning brand hijacked Liquid Death’s hijack by offering space on THEIR packaging.
⚖️ Rick Hoffman goes full Malkovich in this ad for PracticePanther.
🔌 This might be the best use of PowerPoint ever.
🧴 eos goes NSFW with dirty DMs.
🌎 Disney teaming up with Epic Games (makers of Fortnight) is BIG. “Players, gamers and fans will be able to create their own stories and experiences.”
🥸 Faux outdoor is so common now, there are production cos that specialize in it.
💀 John’s LinkedIn takes on Dead Twitter and Zig-Zagging.
🚫 Why agencies shouldn’t pitch for free.
🔍 A tiny alternative to the Stanley Cup craze.
🌈 Pantone color matched Taylor @ the Super Bowl to plug their app.
🌳 Advertising nature.
🏠 IKEA says, “do try this at home.”
💄 rhode made a phone case for your lip tint.
🧶 Remember when that guy made the Netflix intro out of yard? It was a lie.
🩸 Liquid Death spills blood to launch electrolyte mix.
🏀 Nike celebrates Caitlin Clark’s scoring record with nice line.
👗 Some campaign is going to rip-off this charming “digital paper dolls” technique.
🌷 kate spade new york launched their spring campaign.
🤖 Open A.I. just released Sora, which generates eye-popping video from text prompts. (Pretty incredible, TBH.)
❤️ There were a million Valentine’s Day-themed brand promotions this week; here are 11 notable ones.
📱 Hinge made a phone-shaped book to encourage you to put down your phone. Details.
💍 This woman’s “Who TF did I marry?” story is burning up the Internet this week. Here’s a really good breakdown.
🍦 Magnum’s moody black-and-white ice cream ad.
💰 Coinbase ended up buying that space on Liquid Death’s packaging for $500K.
🤖 24 A.I. “cheat sheets.”
💐 LEGO’s pop-up florist shop. Details.
🎒 Soccer star promotes TUMI’s new backpack.
🤔 A tip-top trick for naming your brand or product.
🏢 This promo for the reopening of Michigan Central Station.
🍫 Tony Chocolonely’s smart pivot in the face of a legal injunction.
👜 How the O.G. tote bag (L.L. Bean) markets itself.
🤑 Is this a new trend for content creators working with brands?
🍕 KFC launches the chizza in the U.S.
👔 This elegantly simple suit ad.
🎬 Does Sora mark the end of directing as we know it?
💭 ICYMI, John’s LinkedIn takes on getting client clarity in the brief, Walmart’s purchase of Vizio, and how he got a corner office at age 20.
🎒 Apparently, cos-players need sturdy backpacks.
🪨 The Rock brings “big Dwayne energy” in a new ad for his energy drink.
👍🏻 This really nice series of spots from LinkedIn.
🎉 McDonalds tosses confetti.
🌈 The Book of Colour Concepts.
🥞 Eggo’s pancake-themed vacation rental.
🐛 This freaky ad where a man emerges from a chrysalis.
⭐️ Rockstar’s rebrand is anti-energy drink.
🍭 This week, the Willy Wonka Experience united the Internet in laughter.
🥣 Quaker Oats served up a two-minute heart-string-tugging brand film about oatmeal.
🥊 Whatever you think the max budget would be to produce a promo video for a boxing match, I promise you this cost more.
☝️ This piece in AdAge caused quite a stir this week: why agencies sell process over people. (John posted some excerpts on LinkedIn.)
🦫 We love stop-motion animation, and this new campaign from Just Eat is a delight.
👂🏼 Pot Noodle got complaints about the slurping sounds in its ad. So they replaced them.
🤣 Why advertisers should embrace humor and surrealism.
✍🏻 The 10 types of advertising manifestos.
🎸 Brands should think like bands.
🥵 This reality TV spoof called “Hot & Toxic” takes on natural gas.
👎 Why brands are embracing bad design on social.
🏷 24 rhetorical devices you can use for your tagline.
🧌 Prime Video employs a big troll.
🍅 Heinz introduces a ketchup insurance policy.
🕺This dance troupe’s new take on “Somebody That I Used to Know” is lovely.
🔠 Today is The New York Times 1,000th Wordle: Site | Promotion
☘️ Kahlúa takes a shot at Guinness in St. Patrick’s Day campaign.
🔥 This fiery take on why unemployment is high in ad land.
🍾 In light of layoffs, will agencies be less frothy about Cannes? (Probably not.)
👩🏻💻 This new tool says they make it easier to create brand assets.
🏀 March Madness “advent calendar” from Coors Light.
🎬 This tutorial is a fascinating peek into he world of A.I. video creation.
👯♀️ Did Midjourney just crack the “character consistency” problem?
💤 Did GenZ break the marketing funnel?
🤝 A case study about getting your boss to connect with you on LinkedIn.
🎯 Strategy in the Era of A.I. (new field guide from Zoe Scaman)
🌙 Mojo Supermarket put out a Ramadan Report to unpack how young Muslim Americans celebrate (and what it means for brands.)
🛟 100 pool inflatables on a billboard.
🤪 Is your brand WEIRD or NORMAL?
🔊 Baileys introduces blow-tech.
🛹 This collab between Gap and Palace Skateboards.
🧁 This collab between Magnolia Bakery and Keds.
🤠 Cowboys go soft for Hanes.
🌪 Couple gets twisted in this AXE spot.
👶🏼 Air travel from a newborn’s POV.
🏘 We do love miniatures!
🍰 Freelancer advice: “layer” your services.
🎸 This music video mashes up live action, AI animation, 2D and 3D CGI, and stop motion.
🥊 Under Armour got criticized for its AI-assisted spot. The production co just released a behind-the-scenes “making of” to address some of the criticism.
🤖 So many spec AI campaigns popping up! Two that caught our eye this week: Crocs x BALLENCIAGA and The Nigerian Prince.
☠️ Liquid Death teams up with e.l.f. beauty and wants you to “look like hell.”
🧅 Onion ring tears of joy.
✈️ Airline outdoor minimalism.
🍺 Coors Light “celebrates” parenthood.
🐝 Dan Levy and Aubrey Plaza teach us how to spell “LOEWE.”
🚨 Coke fires brand police and welcomes unauthorized versions of their logo. (Watch the Cannes case study.)
🌕 MoonPie takes down the sun as part of “solar eclipse survival kit.”
🚷 Advertising needs more people that shouldn’t be in advertising.
🍝 Faux outdoor goes pasta.
🕺 The making of Gap’s “Linen Moves.”
⏱ These gorgeous YouTube countdowns.
🤢 If you hate mayo, you’ll hate NotMayo.
👀 Looking for visual inspiration? This is worth subscribing to.
🏄♂️ Not sure what e-foils have to do with a frequent-flyer program, but the visual is soothing.
🎯 Target backs up the money truck to get Kristin Wiig to reprise her Target Lady character in Big Morning, Dream, and Little Birdie.
🦪 Well-crafted credit card campaign shows “The World is Your Oyster.”
👂🏼 The best creative campaigns on Spotify.
📘 This gorgeous coffee table book about Google.
🤮 Dramamine sponsors barf bag documentary.
👟 This content series called “Running Sucks.”
🐻 In this new campaign from Redfin, the bears are ready for Goldilocks to move.
⏳ Timesheets suck. Creatives hate ’em. This agency chief argues against them, too.
🌭 Chicago restaurant bans ketchup. Heinz sets up dispenser out front.
⚽️ A fake meeting generator so you can watch Champions League matches.
🍑 GenZ teaches the olds what the peach emoji means.
🔎 12 lessons from Google Media Lab.
🥔 RidgeWear by Ruffles is the best use of branded corduroy we’ve ever seen.
🤯 Holy smokes: A.I. music creation is here. These examples!
🏇 Royal Ascot Racecourse print and video.
🧳 Marmite smugglers.
👽 Spacey billboards.
🥃 Hennessy gets quirky.
💡 Lighting prompt tips for better A.I. images.
🐄 Cow meets cream cheese outdoor.
🍟 Billboards that smell like McDonalds. (Also, Goodby, Silverstein did it a decade ago.)
🔝 A cautionary tale about rising so high in advertising, nobody can hire you.
📺 John’s take: What’s happening to agencies is like what happened to cable TV.
⛴️ Have to smile at rebranding a local takeover as a “city blitz” but it’s a nice way to sell a regional media plan.
🐾 Bark Air (airline for dogs) is one of those we-have-to-release-this-on-the-last-day-of-Cannes-Lions-eligibility ideas that’s probably not as “real” as the campaign would suggest, but it’s still a PR win.
👏🏻 These creative direction stickers are the BEST thing we saw this week.
🐕 Pedigree invited dogs to conduct an orchestra. Watch | Listen
🕊️ Dove Real Beauty uses A.I. to show that they won’t use A.I. to promote beauty.
🎥 This teaser for the Brooklyn Film Festival. And this one.
🐴 Jimmy Butler plays H.O.R.S.E. on a horse.
🎧 Spotify’s take on A.I.-generated playlists.
🍔 Food stylist fakery can’t fake Heinz ketchup.
🥛 Dairy campaign invites you to get a little bit naughty.
📞 Office castmates reunite for AT&T B2B pitch on LinkedIn.
🤣 Yes, the Beavis and Butt-head sketch made us laugh.
🎮 Read how creation gaming is changing education for Gen Alpha.
✌️ Marketing genius Taylor Swift drops surprise double album.
🚙 We loved this German-accented-spokes-character in his original campaign and are glad to see him back.
❤️ What do you REALLY want? “The Life Brief” helps you answer that question. John’s endorsement.
🎹 Best thing we read this week? This article about a guy who’s put more than 24,000 songs on Spotify.
🕯️ Wax seals are a hot trend in packaging.
🐶 This stunt of putting the CEO in a dog shipping crate is pretty good.
🧠 Les Binet has a new video out on maximizing advertising effectiveness.
🖍️ Crayola reunited adults with their childhood artwork.
👟 Mayo maker makes $1,352 sneaker out of recycled food.
🤳🏻 Four big questions about what happens next with TikTok.
🎮 Colorful controllers from GameStop.
🧑🎨 Renaissance art for renters.
🥤 Coke’s interactive outdoor.
🧽 Sponge furniture.
🚘 Rant-A-Car: rental cars for unhinged TikToks.
🤑 Domino’s skewers tipping culture.
🐄 Impossible Ranch is a safe haven for cows.
7️⃣ 7 things all online creators want you to know.
🍕 This Coinbase pizza ad isn’t about pizza.
🧶 Brochet is crochet for men.
🎤 Want to be a better storyteller? John recommends this book: “Your Story, Well Told.”
✍🏻 Wes Anderson gets Wes Anderson-y for Montblanc.
📞 Heineken makes a boring phone.
✈️ Xfinity sends senior aviators back into the sky. (Watch the behind the scenes.)
🥤 Liquid Death takes on pure sugar.
🪄 Gopuff brings the magic
🤔 What’s on the minds of CMOs right now?
🍺 Cruzcampo rolls with it in this charming beer ad.
👒 Panera offers bread bowl hats for the Kentucky Derby.
🦍 Apes-on-horses is a good movie promo stunt.
💥 How A.I. can lead to better visual effects.
🌱 Never underestimate the power of plants.
💰 Why does so much get spent on TV vs. social?
📺 Because…not all media channels are created equal.
🏢 If you’re building an agency, how big is big enough?
🥫 This new packaging design for Casa Marrazzo.
💃🏽 2024 Met Gala lewks.
🩲 Are you ready to go “full Speedo?”
☕️ Nescafé keeps it 80 degrees.
🤖 Starburst uses A.I. to make 320 versions of the same ad.
😱 Hubspot shows how frustrating marketing can be.
🌈 Skittles raffles off NYC micro apartment.
🧶 Textiles in contemporary art.
🛋️ Wayfair gets it out of your head and into your home.
🌴 This AirBNB spot for parents who want to get away from their kids.
💥 Apple smushes a lot into their new iPad. (This ad is weirdly controversial; some don’t like that it “destroys” the arts in the name of technology. Are metaphors off limits now?)
🦷 This is a good billboard for a local dentist.
🔑 YETI outdoor reminds you to grab your cup.
🎸 Samsung mocks Apple’s “crush” ad.
👵🏻 McDonalds introduces the Grandma McFlurry.
⬜️ The Ordinary breaks norms of skincare advertising.
🍸 Martini dares to be.
🆎 Typefaces of Toronto.
🪴 Smart garden billboards.
🚂 McConaughey thwarts the great data heist for Salesforce.
🏔️ Evian climbs “the mountain of youth.”
🤯 A “show” that a bunch of us made at GS&P launched 15 years ago this month.
💐 All the flowers to pioneer Mary Wells Lawrence. (Gift link to her NY Times obit.)
💼 If you don’t make a short film to announce that you’re “open to work” on LinkedIn are you really open to work?
💀 Love these animated stories for Beaverton Brewery.
👟 Stop-motion Jordans from China.
🧅 The Onion tries to bring back “the good internet.”
🍺 Pedro Pascal for Corona.
⚓️ Salty outdoor for a regional beer.
🔥 Possibly the most aggressive charcoal ad ever made?
⚾️ This is a great case study. (It’s going to clean up this award season.)
🏦 This nice and punchy launch campaign for a new U.K. bank doesn’t feel like a bank ad.
📦 An ad to advertise a media network sounds a little meta, but this charming big-budget B2B spot from Amazon is worth your time.
👋🏻 The internet is awash in eye-catching demos that show off the new repertoire of visual tricky made possible by A.I. Watch this “funky hands” project from VantageFilms in Buenos Aires. Watch the behind-the-scenes.
😢 Yes, this is weird, but we are sad about our bank. Thanks for everything First Republic.
👅 Can you taste design?
🟩 Apple has a nice new spot showing off the animation possibilities of the iPad.
🛒 This makes grocery shopping look pretty good.
🏳️🌈 Calvin Klein goes full vibes for Pride.
🪳 Orkin commissioned a Cicada symphony.
⛹🏽 Gatorade revives classic 90s campaign.
🟦 Scorsese directs Chalamet for Chanel.
🇫🇮 Finland created a Happiness Masterclass. Their latest? Offline Island.
🍎 More new Apple? Yes, these delightful new spots for Apple Card.
🐈⬛ Not cat people, but we’re told that this campaign about “cat rejections” is relatable.
🎶 Fun look at how a Queen deep cut developed new fans after this Amazon spot.
😉 We like this Coke music mixer. We liked it better when we did it for SweeTARTS 3 years ago.
🐶 Want to watch dogs drive across the desert? (You do.)
🧃 Naked goes thungry.
📌 Pinterest helps you find your aesthetic.
⚽️ Inter Miami’s upcycled mascot.
🏳️🌈 The Pantone behind Pride.
🌝 Little Moons wants you to nibble your boyfriend.
🇸🇪 IKEA will pay you to “work” at their virtual store in Roblox.
🪡 Charming social posts tease jacquemus’ arrival in Capri.
💻 Apple goes moody for back-to-school. (Wait, didn’t school just get out?!)
🥪 Jason Alexander plays 8 roles in this (checks notes) mayo commercial.
🚘 Citroën takes on the elite. (Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all had car-commercial-sized budgets!)
👟 Zendaya puts On sportswear in motion. (Remember this viral video? Everything becomes a commercial eventually.)
🥖 If you’re looking for amazing performances in a cringe-funny short film about a self-obsessed ad creative, this one from David Shane for AICP is pretty great.
👰🏻 Miller High Life and Planters team up for a wedding promotion. (Seriously.)
🐓 KFC goes weird and dance-y to say “believe in chicken.”
⚽️ Adidas goes HUGE (scope, budget, pressure) with new spot.
🧱 A Pharrell biopic told in Lego? Yes please.
👨🏻🎤 Spotify outdoor that knows you well.
👵🏻 A&W celebrates 100 by giving root beer floats to centenarians…for life.
🇸🇪 IKEA made this film to promote the release of its new “play report.”
😐 10 years of normcore.
🛒 Asada’s colorful rebrand.
👽 Hong Kong Ballet gets arty with aliens.
🔴 Ocean Spray says “just add cran.”
🧻 Um…this TP brand sings “you will really like it when they learn to wipe it.”
✍🏻 How to animate your terrible drawings.
😂 Realistic mock-ups for your outdoor campaign.
🍷 Fun to see our Element[AL] Wines campaign pop up in so many print pubs.
🧗🏻 God bless the car companies, who still spend big bucks on 2-minute, metaphor-laden spectacles to launch their new vehicles.
🍆 Dating app makes sure the only dick pics you get are solicited.
🍺 Coors Light puts Patrick Mahomes in a time capsule.
✨An ode to multiplex carpets from A24.
🍩 New Dunkin’ interns campaign.
🛒 Striking visuals in this detergent spot from Norway.
🤘 Liquid Death taps Ozzie Osbourne to launch Death Dust.
🫖 Pure Leaf tries to make “tea breaks” happen with Lindsey Lohan.
🛝 Charity embraces playful new brand identity to support serious work.
🎸 Major labels sue A.I. music creators for copyright infringement.
👜 The Kate Spade and Heinz collab you’ve been waiting for?
☀️ Check out this tan man in the new British Paints spot.
👚 This billboard stunt encourages you to shoplift.
🥔 20 years later, Ore-Ida comes to Napoleon Dynamite’s rescue with tater-tot pants.
🦁 All the Cannes Lions Grand Prix-winning case studies in one (paywall free) place.
🦒 Toys R Us made an A.I. generated ad and everybody freaked out.
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.
