The Escape Pod says it avoids vanilla marketing so that clients can “escape the sea of sameness.” The Chicago-based shop has more than delivered on that promise of late. It drew national headlines on behalf of the The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence for a 2018 campaign that included an art installation in Chicago that replicated a bike-sharing by replacing bikes with fake AR-15s. The idea was to illustrate how easy it is to obtain a gun. With a more whimsical effort, the shop plugged Ego, a provider of outdoor power equipment, with a video showing skydivers loading a string into a landscape trimmer in mid-air to show how easy it is to assemble. Notable client wins last year included Fireball Cinnamon Whisky, a popular shot brand. The agency emphasizes speed and flexibility, making 80 percent of its internally, with a team handling creative, editorial, design, production, VFX and animation. On the talent front, the shop recently lured Tyler Moore from R/GA to serve as director of integrated strategy from R/GA.