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

People took a pause from talking about Solo Stove for a few minutes last week to ponder other creative advertising. And the clear winner, as it was the previous week, was humor—in particular the absurdist kind, with travel and coffee brands battling for the prize of the week’s strangest spots. Elsewhere, we saw interesting film and TV efforts, and yet another riff on Calvin Klein’s Jeremy Allen White campaign. Below, check out all of the week’s Top 5. Super Bowl commercials Tracking the latest brand and agency plans Enter here 5. Liquid Death x Rebel Moon: Mandatory Beverage of the Motherworld Agency: In-house Liquid Death loves its partnerships, and here it reunited with an old friend, director Zack Snyder, for an amusing co-branded spot with Snyder’s “Rebel Moon” on Netflix. Snyder’s son Eli directed this spot, which imagines Liquid Death as the beverage of choice for the bad guys from “Rebel Moon.” Canned water seems a bit of a healthy choice for this group of soldiers, who otherwise make very poor choices indeed. The tone of the spot—it’s a parody of heritage beer ads—is entertaining, and there’s chuckle-worthy moments in every scene. 4. HBO x ‘True Detective’: Frozen Billboards Agencies: MAP360 and Arsonal “True Detective” just returned to HBO after a five-year hiatus, and the network celebrated with two eye-catching out-of-home installations—billboards made of ice, which melted away to reveal a chilling message indeed. The craft on this campaign is cool, and it nicely teased the grisly central crime scene in the new “True Detective” season—where bodies are found encased in ice. 3. Facebook Marketplace: The Couch Agency: Mojo Supermarket You’ve probably had enough of Calvin Klein and Jeremy Allen White, but this little coda of a campaign from Mojo Supermarket put a nice bow on things. The agency tracked down the couch from the CK shoot and put it on Facebook Marketplace—priced at $0 but clearly priceless for White fans. Getting tons of earned media, the stunt was a clever way to extend the CK conversation even further—and tie into what’s special about the Marketplace offering. 2. Kayak: Don’t Do It Yourself Agency: Supernatural There’s a mid-2000s Skittles vibe to the new Kayak campaign, in a good way, as the brand once again grabs attention through humor for its singular message—that you need to search just one travel site and be done with it. The crazy characters and physical humor certainly break through—all three spots from agency Supernatural are fun in their own way. Special shout-out to directors The Perlorian Brothers, whose renowned absurdist talents are on full display here. Ad Age Creativity Bookmark our section covering the best in brand creativity every day Read more here 1. GoodBoyBob: Lab Rats Agency: Erich & Kallman And speaking of absurd, and of Skittles, what can you say about this spot for GoodBoyBob other than ... wow? Conceived by Erich & Kallman (whose founder, Eric Kallman, wrote many of the classic Skittles spots of yore) and directed by GoodBoyBob’s founder, Erich Joiner, the coffee brand’s first commercial feels like something from a 2005 time capsule—again, in a good way. In a world where advertising can often feel overly serious, this is just pure silly fun—another step in comedy’s return from the brink during Covid. 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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