German grocery store Penny used package design to ease concerns about inflation.
Design is fundamental to visual communication, yet it’s often treated as a separate discipline from advertising. This week, we saw two agencies harness the power of design to tell two very different stories—both of them compelling.
Elsewhere in this week’s Top 5, we had a wry take on the connection between food and football, a sandwich chain’s series of dark comedies and a lovely car commercial that used impressive CGI to tell a very human story.
See the full Top 5 below.
If dark humor’s your thing, check out this campaign with people acting like angry imbeciles upon learning that not every place has a Hot Sauce Bar like Firehouse Subs does. The insanity begins at a fancy restaurant but travels elsewhere, from a real-estate showing to a poor couple’s wedding. The hyperbole of the idea on its own is fun, but it’s the off-kilter performances that really bring these spots home.
Dropping the “LA” from Deutsch LA might not seem momentous, but it’s a meaningful move for this agency as it takes over the singular Deutsch name that for decades signified the New York office. The design work itself has a breezy Los Angeles vibe, from the scripted wordmark to the outdoorsy brand colors, and the AI-generated capital Ds, personalized for each employee, are nice touches, too.
Ogilvy and VW have been firing on all cylinders in South Africa lately, and this sweet spot extends that run of success. This is one of those commercials that pulls you in with its intrigue and its charming, whimsical visuals, before delivering a payoff that ties everything togther—not just in terms of the ad’s internal narrative but with the larger brand story, too.
Telstra, the Australian telecom, is rolling out one strong campaign after another lately. Its peripatetic stop-motion videos earlier this year were exquisite, as is this new campaign, which includes an alluring video directed by Smith & Foulkes (whose ad résumé includes Honda “Grrr”) and beautifully crafted out-of-home ads created from layers of paper. (There are 40 special builds as well as painted wall murals.) Telstra’s goal is simply to make people feel good about the brand. Mission accomplished.
It’s rare for design projects to have real utility in addressing societal issues, but this Serviceplan campaign for a German grocery chain certainly does. The agency designed packaging for Penny’s store brands that incorporated the price right into the designs. In a time of inflation, this functioned as an implicit promise of price stability—since it would be costly and time consuming for Penny to go back and change the price by changing the design. The usefulness to shoppers here is subtle yet undeniable. And it’s topped off by the eye-catching clarity of the designs themselves. A big win all around.
