This week: Porn stars for sustainability, Freud in the metaverse, inclusivity takes to the skies and more.

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5: Liquid Death: Don’t F*** the Planet
Agency: In-house

Canned water brand Liquid Death continues to brew up quirky campaigns with its latest sustainability push. To promote its eco-friendly packaging and trash competitor, plastic bottle brands, Liquid Death recruited adult film star Cherie DeVille to plead consumers not to “f*** the planet.” The hilarious spot with cheeky educational graphics uses the ultimate attention-grabber—sex—for a good cause. Plus, the campaign went full monty with the porn industry by tapping adult film actress Joanna Angel to direct.

Read: Another wacky Liquid Death campaign featuring “Jackass” star Steve-O

4: Vienna Tourist Board: Get Me Out, Freud
Agency: Jung von Matt Donau

Psychoanalyze this: Sigmund Freud will now talk to you in the metaverse. In the latest ruse by the Vienna Tourist Board to get travelers interested in taking a trip to the Austrian capital, an avatar of the famous analyst and Viennese resident is appearing in the virtual platform Decentraland every day until April 29. Visitors can “chat” with Freud in order to win a trip to Vienna as well as entry to the Sigmund Freud Museum. It’s another buzzworthy campaign from Jung von Matt Donau, which previously put Vienna’s nude artworks on OnlyFans.

Watch: Industry leaders discuss the metaverse

See the finalists for Ad Age's 2022 Creativity Awards

For more great ideas, bookmark our section covering the best in brand creativity every day at Adage.com/Creativity. 

Also read: Marketing winners and losers 

3: Adidas: I Am Possible Court
Agency: Havas Middle East

Adidas caught our attention in Dubai last year with its swimmable billboard and now it has built a “glow-in-the-dark” basketball court in the city. The brand and agency Havas Middle East built the “I Am Possible” court on top of a 52-floor skyscraper on the man-made island The Palm. It features an illustration of Sudanese-British basketball player, poet and activist Asma Elbadawi, who overturned a ban on religious headgear in professional basketball. Elbadawi also appears in a social video for the brand wearing her hijab.

2: The Danish UNESCO National Commission, Blue Shield Denmark, Polycam: Backup Ukraine
Agency: Virtue Worldwide

The Russian conflict in Ukraine has put the country’s artifacts—landmark architecture, historical statues and other difficult-to-transport antiquities—at risk. In a concerted effort to preserve Ukraine’s cultural history and identity, Vice Media’s Virtue Worldwide partnered with humanitarian organizations and app Polycam to launch “Backup Ukraine.” The campaign uses Polycam’s smartphone camera capabilities to take 3D captures of objects and render digital replicas. Ukrainian participants can scan local works and upload them to a free-to-access library, logged by location.

1: Virgin Atlantic: I Am What I Am
Agency: Lucky Generals

Several airlines have come out with big new campaigns marking the return of air travel, but none has been so bold as Virgin Atlantic. Having switched agency last year to the U.K.’s Lucky Generals, its new campaign celebrates diversity and individuality in a way that’s markedly different for the sector. Set to a cover of “I Am What I Am,” its cast of employees and customers include a male cabin crew member wearing makeup while his female colleague eschews it; a businesswoman with tongue studs; and a man in a glittering wheelchair with jacket to match. Ben Strebel of Biscuit directs with panache. The tagline? “See the world differently.” 

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