Making purpose ads is not as easy as it used to be, with consumers and watchdog groups ready to pounce on anything deemed inauthentic. In the face of this pressure, several brands and nonprofits found ways this year to deliver campaigns that were both effective and genuine.

Below, we revisit a few of them, in alphabetical order.

Also read: Purpose agencies adapt to marketers’ shifting priorities

Babies Uganda: Soul Gym
Agency: Accenture Song

Babies Uganda, which runs schools and orphanages in Uganda, found a unique fundraising approach by playing off the failure of people to use gym memberships. The effort promotes memberships for a “Soul Gym” in the country—people will never go, just like a real gym—but their dues are put to a good cause. 

Bodyform: Never Just a Period
Agency: AMV BBDO

The feminine care brand in the U.K. advocated for more education on menstrual experiences by dramatizing how girls and women are often in the dark about their own bodies.

CoorDown: Assume that I Can
Agency: Small

CoorDown, which raises awareness of the potential of people with Down syndrome, effectively challenges stereotypes via a campaign inspired by the concept of the self-fulfilling prophecy. Ad Age Creativity Editor Tim Nudd praised the effort as a  “gem of a film that married joy and purpose like few projects we’ve seen.”

Google: Javier in Frame
Agencies: In-house, Gut Miami

While most brands have moved away from purpose ads in the Super Bowl in favor of celebrity-filled humor, Google got serious this year, effectively blending cause marketing with selling a product—the Google Pixel smartphone. The ad highlighted the Guided Frame feature, which helps visually impaired people take photos. It was directed by blind filmmaker Adam Morse.

Hyundai: It’s OK
Agency: Innocean USA

With an Olympics campaign, Hyundai skipped the typical athlete-filled, flag-waving approach in favor of sending a simple, but needed, message to parents: When it comes to sports, it’s OK to give your kids a break. The spot depicted parents taking a gentler approach when dealing with frustration shown by kids competing in a variety of sports such as swimming, basketball, gymnastics and wrestling.

MACMA: Machine-Generated
Agency: David Buenos Aires

Breast cancer nonprofit MACMA played into the hype around AI and machine-generated things—but with a much different twist. The spot showed “machine-generated” moments of very human joy. It is later revealed the machine referenced is actually used for cancer screenings.

Powerade: The Vault
Agency: WPP Open X

Simone Biles has been featured in plenty of marketing this year as she triumphed at the Paris Olympics. But months before she won gold, Coca-Cola’s Powerade showed how the gymnast’s greatest achievement might have been how she addressed her mental well-being after falling short at the Tokyo Games in 2021.

Vinted: Too Many
Agency: Wolfstreet

European secondhand goods marketplace Vinted promoted its business by portraying overconsumption to a ridiculous degree. “You can never have enough purses or jackets,” the ad states, while showing that, yes, you actually can.

Wall’s: Solar Priceboards
Agency: LOLA MullenLowe 

Unilever ice cream brand Wall’s came out with a clever upgrade to the price boards ice cream sellers in Pakistan use—solar panels that can keep freezers going during power grid cuts, which apparently happen a lot in the country.