In this week’s Top 5, we visit (and escape) a dystopic world, enjoy a precarious cliffhanger, salute the lonely peach emoji, and mull two separate campaigns that advocate for gender equality in starkly different ways.
The top 5 creative campaigns you need to know about right now
5. Simply Spiked: Juicy Calls
Agency: Mischief
Tired of sending unrequited peach emojis late at night? Simply Spiked, the alcoholic juice brand from Coca-Cola and Molson Coors, wants them to be very requited. Just text your after-hours butt-fruit missives to 73255, and you might get some Simply Spiked Peach drinks in return. Win-win! Comedian Ron Funches explains more about these “Juicy Calls” in the campaign video.
4. Macpac: This Is a Bit Precarious
Agency: The Monkeys
Outdoor apparel brands are at their best when they’re literally saving lives. This is taken to absurdly comic lengths in The Monkeys’ new work for Macpac in Australia. The spot features a trio of hikers who find themselves hanging by a thread—actually, millions of threads that make up a whole Macpac jacket. Their amusingly deadpan take on the situation, along with the eye-catching visuals, take the work to impressive heights.
3. Adidas: The Ridiculous Run
Agency: TBWA/Neboko
Armed with research suggesting 92% of women feel concerned for their safety while running, Adidas rolled out a campaign to raise awareness and create change. “The Ridiculous Run” shows the absurd lengths to which women might have to go—from wearing one headphone to hiring an entire protective entourage—to feel safe while out for a jog. Men are a major focus here—while 62% of them recognize the issue, only 18% believe the responsibility lies mostly with men to help women feel safer when running.
2. Tangerine Bank: Hoops
Agency: Rethink
Adland is littered with dystopic stories of downtrodden heroes mustering the wherewithal to escape. This latest one, from digital bank Tangerine, is a worthy addition to the canon. The world-building is convincing, and when our exhausted-looking protagonist finally ascends to the heavens (in a good way), we feel his sweet relief. Let’s hope he gets down safely.
1. ZIJkant: Dick
Agency: mortierbrigade
We’ve seen so many equal-pay PSAs in recent years, it seemed unlikely anyone would dream up a fresh approach to the topic. Yet here, agency mortierbrigade and directors Lionel Goldstein (the Belgian duo of Koen Mortier and Joe Vanhoutteghem) storm in with a brazenly hilarious take. It’s all about men’s secret handshake, but describing it doesn’t do it justice. It’s this week’s must-watch.