This week’s top campaigns were all over the map, quite literally—the U.S., U.K., Brazil and Canada. And they ranged in theme from stunts to gaming to business-to-business tech, from a beer anthem to a pro bono film. Below, check out this week’s top 5.
Special Report: Creativity Top 5
The top 5 creative campaigns you need to know about right now
This week: Big questions for IBM, Molson’s inclusive rallying cry in Canada, and a powerful film about autism
An actress with autism stars, with her friends and family, in Vanish’s award-winning spot.
Credit:
Vanish
5. SAXX: Breaking Bad Underwear Habits
Agency: Quality Meats
Walter White’s tighty-whities from “Breaking Bad” are among the world’s most notorious underwear. They recently went up for auction, and the underwear brand SAXX bought them for more than $32,000—not to preserve them, but to blow them up, as part of a stunt from the agency Quality Meats. Fans of the show needn’t worry—they’re not completely destroyed. Charred bits of the remains will soon be sent to 25 “lucky” fans.
4. Enterogermina: Ready Player Mom
Agency: MRM Spain
Moms embarrassing their teenagers is one of the all-time great human truths, and it’s employed to amusingly modern effect in this MRM Spain campaign for probiotics brand Enterogermina. The agency trained mothers to play various video games, then sent their avatars into their kids’ livestream gaming broadcasts—to mortifyingly tell them they’re eating too much junk food.
3. IBM: What If?
Agency: Ogilvy
Four new IBM spots from Ogilvy, voiced by Oscar Isaac and directed by Ian Pons Jewell, begin with big questions—then position IBM collaborations as the answer. Covering topics such as consulting, data, AI and security, the B2B spots have an alluring visual flair and pleasantly freewheeling vibe—building trust through approachability and craft in classic Ogilvy-IBM style.
2. Molson: Everyone In
Agency: Rethink
Rethink crafted one of the more unexpectedly inclusive anthems we’ve seen lately—for Canadian brewer Molson. Inclusivity isn’t always a slam dunk for beer brands (see the backlash to Bud Light’s partnership with Dylan Mulvaney), but when the drag queens appear toward the end of the Molson spot, it’s clear the brewer is all in.
1. Vanish: Me, My Autism and I
Agency: Havas London
Channel 4’s Diversity in Advertising contest always produces great work, and this year is no exception. A short film for Reckitt’s Vanish stain remover, from Havas London and director Tom Hooper, shines a light on autism in girls, who are three times less likely to receive a diagnosis than boys. The filmmaking is superb, and the story of the real-life family at the heart of the project makes it extra special.
