CoorDown released its latest defiant ad supporting people with Down syndrome.
Production company Tool’s AI-driven spot for Under Armour dominated the debate in creative circles this week, but there were many other notable campaigns, too.
We saw a pet-sitting service’s amusing confessional spots; two very different campaigns from alcohol brands; a biting industry parody from an advertising award show; and the latest bit of creative brilliance from a charity supporting people with Down syndrome.
See this week’s Top 5 below, all of which were made by humans.
Rover, the pet-sitting company, has really hit its stride creatively with agency Little Hands of Stone. Following up last year’s charming “To My Hooman” spot, this time we get a comic campaign with people wearing pet-care style cones to hide their identities as they relate horror stories of pet setting for a loved one. The point is, you shouldn’t be asking friends and family to watch your pet in the first place. Instead, you should be paying for the service through Rover. The conceit is amusing, and it’s nice to see Rover extending its tonal range like this.
A good old-fashioned punking campaign is always welcome, and this St. Patrick’s Day it was Kahlúa, the Mexican liqueur brand, having some fun with Guinness. Instead of drinking yet another boring stout for the Irish holiday, Kahlúa suggested mixing things up and choosing another black, creamy beverage instead—an espresso martini. The W+K London team did a nice job with this across a number of touch points here, from van-side advertising outside pubs, to newspaper wraps, to the amusing film below.
The client approval process is notoriously one of the biggest pain points for creatives working in advertising. And it’s parodied hilariously in these call-for-entries videos for the AICP, imagining if Vincent Van Gogh and Frida Kahlo were subjected to modern-day client feedback. The details are wonderful throughout, particularly the joke about the vertical format. And it’s perfect for AICP, whose winners join the collection at the Museum of Modern Art.
Our favorite design-centric campaign of the week came from Molson and Rethink in Canada, which created special jerseys for the Professional Women’s Hockey League that put the brand name up on the upper back (which is often obscured by the player’s hair) and the player’s name further down. A nice, simple insight followed by a nice, simple solution. The jerseys were made for one game only, but hopefully they’ll make the change permanent.
We always get strong creative work for CoorDown on World Down Syndrome Day, and this year was no different. This 90-second spot’s simple and memorable argument is exceedingly well framed, suggesting people with Down syndrome will progress in their lives only in parallel to the opportunities they’re afforded—which are based on the perception other people have of them. The spot illustrates this idea of a self-fulfilling prophecy with style and humor, but there’s no mistaking the call to action. Beyond its infectious creative verve, this is a spot that can make a real difference in the lives of real people.
