Among today’s creative highlights, the holiday ad-stravaganza continues; Gatorade lets shoppers pay with sweat; Taco Bell gets people looking sideways; and The Ordinary warns against wasteful Black Friday spending.
13 creative campaigns to know about today
Boots: The U.K. health and beauty retailer’s Christmas ad features “Bridgerton” star Adjoa Andoh as Mrs. Claus in a Boots Christmas “werkshop” alongside beauty social media influencers @soph and @snatchedbywill. The ad celebrates the launch of 55 beauty brands over the past year, along with 46 new seasonal gifting brands for Christmas. WPP’s VML and The Pharm created the campaign.
Cadbury: VCCP’s holiday OOH ads for Cadbury mimic advent calendars, with 24 executions featuring real-life snapshots. The effort promotes the classic Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate advent calendar.
Champs Sports: Major League Baseball stars Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Trea Turner of the Philadelphia Phillies share how they come together with friends and family for the holidays in two spots from Cinco Design.
Farmers Insurance: The insurance company ties into the holiday movie “Red One” with a :30 spot from agency RPA, playing off the fact that the film stars longtime Farmers spokesman J.K. Simmons. M&M’s also partnered with “Red One,” partly because Simmons voices the Yellow M&M.
Gatorade: The sports drink giant held an activation at a store in Honduras, where, for one day only, shoppers could pay for items with sweat. Agency RosadoToledo& devised the campaign.
HomeEquity Bank: The bank partnered with the Legion National Foundation to send people digital calendar invites for meetings set on the dates of significant Canadian battles. Upon entering the meeting, participants are greeted with a digital activation that reminds them of veterans’ sacrifices. Agency Zulu Alpha Kilo created the campaign.
Ketchum: The agency created 20 special domino sets called “Liming With Gran” to promote conversations about the barriers facing Caribbean communities in health and well-being. (“Liming” is a Caribbean term for hanging out with family and friends.) A film directed by Tom Day shows a grandmother and grandson connecting over the unique dominoes, which contain topics of conversation around health and wellness.
Life Is Good: We speak with the apparel brand’s founders about how they finally learned to embrace advertising, and why the brand has sometimes been misunderstood.
McDonald’s U.K.: The fast food brand relaunched its Saver Menu with four tongue-in-cheek spots from Leo Burnett that contrast the value of items on the menu with expensive purchases, such as short-lived theme park rides and half-hearted driving lessons.
Opendoor: A new spot from Venables Bell + Partners urges homeowners to defy tradition and sell their homes at a traditionally slow time of year—the holidays—and offers a turducken metaphor about Opendoor’s home-selling options.
The Ordinary: The skin care brand launched an anti-Black Friday campaign with billboards and full-page ads in The New York Times and the Guardian warning consumers about “cheap creep”—and advising against rampant deal-based purchasing. The “Slovember” campaign urges consumers to treat their shopping as intentionally as they do their skin care. Indie Amsterdam agency Soursop created the campaign.
Sinai Health Foundation: The fundraising arm of one of Toronto’s leading hospitals unveiled an anthem-style spot aimed at breaking the stigma of menopause. “Hot and Bothered” was created by Toronto agency Diamond and directed by Chelsea McMullan of Animals.
Taco Bell: In the U.K., Bosnia and Serbia, Taco Bell and Deutsch are running billboards with the text at a 45-degree angle—inspired by the “Taco Tilt,” where you tilt your head to eat a taco.