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

This week’s top campaigns included a straight-talking mermaid, a bit of time traveling, a lovely spot about caregivers and a whole lot more. Below, check out our Top 5 for the week. Ad Age Creativity Bookmark our section covering the best in brand creativity every day Read more here 5. Hanes: Make Yourself Comfortable Agency: The Martin Agency Hanes and The Martin Agency traveled back in time, to 1901, to tell an entertaining if largely fictional version of the company’s origin story—colorfully suggesting that the brand essentially invented comfort, thus freeing miserable Gilded Age dandies from their restrictive undergarments. True or not, the spot is great fun—backed nicely by Blondie’s infectious “Heart of Glass.” 4. Change the Ref: New Recruits Agency: Energy BBDO Change the Ref has done lots of aggressive anti-gun advertising over the years, and its latest campaign ranks right up their in terms of shock value. Working with Energy BBDO, the group seized on a disturbing stat shared last year by President Biden—that more school-age children have died from guns over the last two decades than on-duty police officers and active duty military combined—to craft ads suggesting it’s safer to send kids to war these days than to school. They even opened a fake recruitment center in New Jersey for a day. 3. Gyno-Canesbalance: Mermaid Agency: LOLA MullenLowe LOLA MullenLowe’s new work for Gyno-Canesbalance, a gel that treats bacterial vaginosis, skillfully made the awkward topic not just more comfortable to talk about but downright charming. Meet Alexa, a mermaid who’s here to talk about the main symptom of bacterial vaginosis—and why you shouldn’t be ashamed of it. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs 2. TENA: #NoLoveLikeIt Agency: AMV BBDO All the richness and complexity of caring for a loved one is captured in this wonderful campaign from AMV BBDO and director Darius Marder for TENA, the Essity-owned incontinence brand in the U.K. The work beautifully explores the range of circumstances and emotions that caregivers experience—joy, pain, love and everything in between—across three true stories. Touching but not treacly, this is how to do emotional documentary-style advertising right. 1. Dove: The Cost of Beauty Agency: Ogilvy This week marked the 10th anniversary of the release of Dove’s “Real Beauty Sketches.” And it also saw the Unilever brand and its agency Ogilvy unveil their latest powerful film about self-esteem—in particular among teens girls, who are suffering mental health issues from social media content. The short film tells the story of Mary, a kid who spirals after getting access to social media, eventually developing an eating disorder. It’s set to a cover of Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful” (a track used, to very different effect, in a KFC Spain ad this week, too). The spot seeks legislative change by supporting the Kids Online Safety Act, pointing viewers to a petition to support the Act, which aims to limit teens’ exposure to toxic beauty content online. See all of Ad Age's 2023 Agency A-List winners here

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

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