Welcome to our weekly rundown of the Top 5 most innovative brand ideas you need to know about right now.
5. Volkswagen: ‘Movie Star Confidence,' Adam&Eve/DDB
Volkswagen vehicles inspire confidence—and recklessness—in their drivers. A series of spots from Adam&Eve/DDB features overly optimistic protagonists wading waist deep into trouble, often as their confused compatriots desperately try to stop them getting them all killed.
4. Air Canada: ‘Travel Like a Canadian,' FCB Canada
Air Canada tries to spread some politeness down south and picks “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Killing Eve” star Sandra Oh to do it. In an earnest travel PSA from FCB Canada, she explains Canadians customs and fare, like poutine, Caesar cocktails and profuse apologies.
3. CALM/Topshop: ‘Let What’s Outside In,' Havas London
Topshop partnered with the mental health charity Campaign Against Living Miserably to add oversized self-care labels to men’s clothing in the U.K. They include instructions for dealing with overwhelming feelings and include the number to CALM’s telephone hotline. The campaign from Havas London also features a film where friends help keep a man from spinning out of control.
2. Barton F. Graf: ‘Funeral,' Barton F. Graf
Barton F. Graf is closing by the end of the year, and the agency’s remaining employees were joined by former staffers and friends for a funeral, complete with dead mouse, casket, eulogies, tears and a comedian dressed like a priest.
1. HBO: ‘It’s OK,' Wieden & Kennedy New York
HBO marked World Mental Health Day by adding bumpers with content disclaimers to many of its shows that feature characters struggling with mental health issues. The campaign from Wieden & Kennedy New York also features a clinical psychologist who breaks down scenes from shows like “Girls,” explaining what the character is going through and why the stigma associated with mental health struggles is unwarranted—and unhelpful.
That's it for the Top 5. Make sure to check out more of the best in brand creativity at Adage.com/Creativity.