This week: Terrifying tomatoes, ridiculous U.S. laws and the return of a festive favorite.
The top 5 creative campaigns you need to know about right now
5. Heinz: For a 100% Natural Halloween
Agency: Wunderman Thompson Spain
Last week marked a crossover between Halloween and the holidays, so it seems fitting to call out one of the Halloween campaigns that caught our attention this year. To highlight its natural ingredients, Heinz Ketchup ran social posts and billboards that mimicked ASMR recipe clips of tomatoes being sliced, or "optical illusion” videos. But if viewers watched for long enough, they would be startled by the sudden apparition of a monstrous-looking tomato face. Because, unlikely as it may seem, to quote the campaign's executive creative director, “When shot in a certain light, some tomatoes can be extremely scary.”
4. Legalshield: Stupid Laws
Agency: The Martin Agency
Legal services ads aren't usually comedic fare, but this campaign for Legalshield mines humor from some of the more more idiosyncratic U.S. laws, such as Massachusetts not allowing animals to ride in the back of the car unbuckled, or Washington’s ban on harassing a sasquatch. TV ads hilariously illustrate these scenarios, and there’s also a clever collaboration with Waze that will target drivers with ads about these laws on the app as they cross state lines.
3. Kraft Real Mayo: Juicy Couture
Agency: Wieden+Kennedy
In another attention-grabbing move from Kraft Heinz, Kraft Real Mayo leans into on-trend early '00s nostalgia in a collaboration with iconic rhinestoned backside brand Juicy Couture. "The Smooth Lover's" collection consists of a blue velour tracksuit, with the word "smooth" across the butt, and a white tube top that reads "mayo couture." It’s all aimed at paying homage to mayonnaise’s smooth texture.

2. Lego: Build a Playful Holiday
Agency: The Lego Agency
Lego handed creative control to kids for its holiday ad in a bid to bring its “Rebuild the World” theme to life, and the results are spectacular. A group of children imagined a vehicle to deliver gifts, then Lego built it (a steampunk-like mashup of a space shuttle with an inflatable giraffe and a fairytale castle) and surprised them. All this, plus Katy Perry, named by the kids as their favorite pop star, singing "Firework" on top of their creation in a dress inspired by Lego Bricks. Directed by Traktor, it's another entertaining feast of an ad from the brick brand that stays true to its creative vision.
1. Asda: Have Your Elf a Merry Little Christmas
Agency: Havas UK
Will Ferrell famously said that he would never do an “Elf” sequel, but U.K. retailer Asda persuaded him to allow footage from the much-loved festive movie to be used in its Christmas ad. Not only is this quite the coup for Asda, but it’s all done charmingly, with seamless visual effects by Framestore and superb direction by Rattling Stick's Danny Kleinman, who paid attention to minute details such as the lens and grade originally used by “Elf” director Jon Favreau. Ingenious, fun and a great fit for the brand.