The top 5 (non-Super Bowl) ads to watch now

This week: How a car brand overcame a major COVID hurdle, plus important ideas for Black History Month, mental health and more. Subscribe to Ad Age now for the latest industry news and analysis. 5. Ikea: 3D-printed Meatballs Agency: Ingo Ikea wants to bring some 150 brains from the tech and innovation worlds into its company, so it offered up a tasty appetizer to potential hires: a bite of its 3D-printed meatballs. The furniture retailer’s new recruitment campaign involved creating its famous “Huvudroll,” as its meatballs are called, via 3D printing. Those who make it to the interview stage will get to sample the meatballs, but the retailer has no immediate plans to make them available at stores. 4. CALM: There’s a secret message in this video Agency: Recipe U.K. suicide prevention organization Campaign Against Living Miserably, aka CALM, found a smart way to reach out to gamers struggling with mental health. The charity teamed with YouTube gamer DanTDM to embed a secret message in what appeared to be one of his walk-through videos. He seems to be playing a normal game, but in the middle of the video tells viewers to see the “real story” by hovering their cursors over the video’s timeline. Doing so will uncover a hidden message about how he’s really feeling inside. The video then proceeds to direct viewers to how they can get help if they’re feeling down, via CALM. 3. Black and Abroad: Elevation Map Agency: Performance Art In time for Black History Month, travel organization Black and Abroad, which was behind the Cannes Lions Grand Prix-winning “Go Back to Africa” campaign, debuted another innovative push to celebrate destinations in the United States most rich with Black culture. An “elevation map” created with agency Performance Art cleverly translates culture into topography—the higher the elevation in that particular area, the richer it is with Black culture based on population, businesses, historical markers and social media activity. 2. Volvo: Volvo Street Configurator Agency: Famous Grey This year, the Brussels Motor Show, originally set to take place in January, was postponed for a whole year due to the continuing pandemic. But Volvo has found a way to bring its showroom to consumers—everywhere they go. The new “Volvo Street Configurator” app the brand created with agency Famous Grey allows shoppers to scan any Volvo they see in the street and get full details on the vehicle. The app will then redirect the user to finalize their own configuration of a car and refer them to a local retailer or online purchase options. 1. National Underground Freedom Museum: The power of one voice Agency: Leo Burnett For Black History Month this year, Ad Age once again is celebrating important moments in the careers of the industry’s talents. This week’s guest editor for the series, The Martin Agency’s Danny Robinson, selected Weber Shandwick EVP and Head of Brand Impact Lewis Williams to contribute an important project from his career, and he shared this classic campaign for the National Underground Freedom Museum from when he was a creative director at Leo Burnett. The campaign highlights moments of discrimination you might encounter in everyday life, and what happens when just one person decides to use their voice. The campaign is nearly 20 years old, but remains just as powerful today. For more great ideas, bookmark our section covering the best in brand creativity every day at Adage.com/Creativity. High-quality journalism isn’t free. Subscribe to Ad Age now for award-winning news and insight.

The top 5 (non-Super Bowl) ads to watch now

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