The top 5 creative campaigns you need to know about right now

Craft isn’t just the cherry on top of a campaign. It can often make or break an idea. We saw that with several campaigns this week across different categories. We saw AI-generated audio deepfakes, impressive short films for a sports drink and a heath center, and a footwear brand’s creepy noir use of celebrity. Topping them all, though, wasn’t an ad at all but an agency’s unbranded piece of high fashion that turned heads at New York Fashion Week. See our full Top 5 for this week below. Sign up for Ad Age newsletters From influencer marketing to agencies, get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox Click here 5. Change the Ref: The Shotline Agency: MullenLowe Change the Ref, the nonprofit run by Manuel and Patricia Oliver, is unsparing in its use of creativity, in all its forms, to address gun violence. Its latest effort uses AI to resurrect the voice of their son Joaquin, who was killed at Parkland six years ago this month. Joaquin and other shooting victims—their voices recreated using audio deepfakes—call legislators demanding change in the new effort. Impressive tech put to good use to address an endemic problem. 4. Gatorade: We All Sweat Agency: Isla Isla Buenos Aires has been making striking long-form content for Gatorade Latin America for a while. This latest spot celebrates sweat—the democratizing physical reaction to exercise that everyone has, whether you’re a pro or the ultimate amateur. The spot was directed with impressive style by Nico Perez Veiga and is airing in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and other key countries in the region. 3. Memorial Sloan Kettering: Late Agency: Alma This short film also rose to the top this week—Alma’s remarkable three-minute piece for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, directed by Rodrigo García Saiz. The film tells the story of a woman who is chronically late for everything in her life. This is mildly annoying for her husband, until suddenly it’s devastating. Despite its reputation for weak advertising craft, the health category lends itself well to emotional, high-quality storytelling—and this remarkable, cinematic film delivers on all fronts. 2. Puma: A$AP Rocky Meets Mostro Production Company: Hammersaw The most stylized spot we saw this week was Puma’s new ad starring (and co-directed by) the rapper A$AP Rocky. The minute-long commercial, visually inspired by German expressionism, has a wonderful noir vibe, as Rocky sits contemplating an idea he’s had—before some black liquid cooking on the stove comes weirdly to life and attacks him. Don’t worry, it’s all a metaphor. At the end, we see Rocky physically embodying his idea, which turns out to be quite Puma-centric. A deliciously creepy little film that also required top-notch craft to pull off. Ad Age Creativity Bookmark our section covering the best in brand creativity every day Read more here 1. Uncommon Creative Studio: Ratboot Agency: Uncommon Creative Studio We’re giving the top spot this week to Uncommon for a project that wasn’t a client campaign but rather a fashion stunt the agency whipped up on its own for New York Fashion Week. A random discussion at its New York office about the city’s rat population led the creatives to create the Ratboot—a black leather knee-high boot whose platform houses a taxidermied rat. A pair of the boots, modeled by Jenny Assaf, caused quite a stir at Fashion Week, with one bystander’s Instagram Reel earning more than 120 million views. Uncommon often talks about making things that transcend advertising, and this was a weirdly fun, culture-busting example. Sign up for Ad Age newsletters From influencer marketing to agencies, get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox Click here

The top 5 creative campaigns you need to know about right now

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