This week: Crunchy fries with a side of shade, unvarnished parenting and a kinder, gentler way out of debt.

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5. Wendy’s: Soggy Fries
Agency: VMLY&R

Wendy’s took a break from touting its fresh beef to jab at mega-rival McDonald’s in a not-too-subtle spot that calls out the bigger chain’s “cold and soggy fries.” That’s juxtaposed with Wendy’s all-new hot and crispy French fries, the first revamp since 2010. Starting with 20 different cuts of potato, the brand narrowed it down to the winner with taste tests at restaurants and says customers prefer them 2-to-1 over McDonald’s.

4. Pinterest: Invest in Rest

On World Mental Health Day, Pinterest debuted a new wellness hub with posts on using bedtime affirmations to sleep better, meditation and art therapy. The move was prompted by a rise in user searches for things like “de-stressing tips” and “Sunday reset routine.” An in-person event in Chicago also offered yoga classes, arts and crafts and a children’s storytime with Chance the Rapper.

3. Storyblocks: Indigenous Stock Footage

On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, creative stock media site Storyblocks unveiled newly commissioned footage that presents a more accurate portrayal of Indigenous people from across the United States and Canada. Storyblocks enlisted Indigenous creators, consulted with Indigenous-led nonprofits and the work is curated by Indigenous filmmakers. Themes include food sovereignty, Indigenous joy, community and conservation, Indigenous environmentalism and the natural world.

2. Relief: Squid Game
Agency: Wunder

Netflix’s “Squid Game” is a runaway hit, but getting out of debt shouldn’t require a blood sacrifice. So Relief, an app that uses AI and collective bargaining to eliminate credit card debt, co-opted the look of the cryptic invitations from the show to offer a much less dangerous invitation. Using same-day printers and express shipping, it distributed 10,000 cards across New York City and Miami, where binge-watchers out for fresh air are bound to stumble upon them.

1. Babyganics: Here’s to Perfectly Imperfect Parenting
Agency: Red & Co.

Parenting is sometimes more of a bloodsport than “Squid Game”—or feels that way to the permanently sleep-deprived. Pushing back against the perfection of staged social media, Babyganics celebrates the messier side of raising kids with a cacophonous reimagining of “Wheels on the Bus,” with new lyrics that better represent the hectic frenzy and chaos of the early years. The creative teams Black, Indigenous, people of color, immigrant, adoptive, trans, same-sex and single parents, and the ad features real families and their kids.

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