Best Ads of the Week: Adidas collabs with The Stone Roses & Bodyarmor makes ad with AI

This week, Expedia sparked wanderlust for the Northern Lights, Elf Cosmetics tapped Judge Judy for its Super Bowl ad and vegan condoms hit store shelves in time for Valentine’s Day.

Expedia: Northern Lights: Julie, Grace & Maya

According to Expedia, more than half of Brits want to see the Northern Lights at some point in their lives. To inspire people to tick off their bucket list experiences, the travel company unveiled a new ad campaign, ‘Northern Lights: Julie, Grace & Maya,’ that includes an out-of-home takeover at One World Trade Center and a TV ad, as well as magazine features.

Two Hot Asians: Recipe Therapy by Lovesome

Through an illustrated book by creative collective Lovesome, Two Hot Asians tackles one of the most common cooking dilemmas… what to eat? To combat this, the sauce brand released a beautifully illustrated cookbook that serves up some food inspiration right in time for Valentine’s Day.

Recipe Therapy features 16 different responses turned into recipes, “Anything” becomes “Anything Bagel,” “Hmmm” is a “Hmmmus & Halloumi” recipe and “Not Sure” transforms to “Not Sure If This Is What You Want But We’re Going To Have Vegetarian Stir-Fry Anyway.” Creative collective Lovesome is behind the book’s vibrant illustrations.

Greenfield Natural Meat Co.: Bae-Con Basked by No Fixed Address

Love is in the air and so is the irresistible aroma of bacon, according to carbon-neutral company Greenfield Natural Meat Co. An extension of the brand’s Low Carb(on) Diet platform, the new campaign will award 25 lucky meat-lovers and tree huggers a curated selection of carbon-neutral foods, to celebrate their love for their bae and the planet.

The campaign, created in partnership with No Fixed Address, launches with a social video and an influencer push.

Climaxxxx: Do It for Earth

For Valentine’s Day 2024, LA-based climate store Better is launching ‘Do It for Earth,’ an innovative campaign to introduce Climaxxx, the world’s first carbon-neutral vegan condoms. The campaign comes in response to research that reveals how rising temperatures negatively impact our intimate lives.

Climaxxx condoms hit store shelves on February 14.

Ikea Greece: Valentine’s Day campaign by The Newtons Laboratory

Ikea Greece released a campaign in time for Valentine’s Day that plays on the well-known feeling that building flat-pack furniture can be a stressful task. But in a twist, each print suggests that the stresses that come with assembling Ikea products actually might be a positive thing for couples.

“If it can turn you mad, it can turn you on. Celebrate Valentine’s the right way,” reads the copy, alongside timestamps of the various activities. The ads come from The Newtons Laboratory, which released its first piece of work for the Swedish retailer in August last year.

Pot Noodle: Nothing Satisfies like Pot Noodle by Adam&EveDDB

‘Nothing Satisfies Like a Pot Noodle’ is the latest ad from the Unilever snack brand that aims to position it as a go-to lunchtime option. The short sees a young woman pour boiling water into a plastic noodle container and wait for her food to cook through. As she takes her first mouthful, and it is a full mouth, she shows no regard for how she sounds.

As a colleague passes by the kitchen, she peers in to see where the unsavory sound is coming from, looking slightly bemused. As the obnoxious noise travels, colleagues further afield in the office begin to take notice in a confused and disgusted manner. It’s the work of ad agency Adam&EveDDB, which is building on last year’s ’Nothing Fills a Hole Like Pot Noodle’ campaign.

Manchester United: Roses Are Red

Premier League club Manchester United has released a new fashion collection steeped in its home city’s rich musical history. Bringing on board The Stone Roses of the ‘Madchester’ era, the garments are directly inspired by guitarist John Squire’s artwork for their debut album. The jerseys have red, white and blue Adidas stripes on the sleeves and ‘The Stone Roses’ written inside the collar in gold lettering. The Manchester United crest is creatively adapted, featuring the words ‘This is the One’ and two lemon slices replacing footballs on either side.

To mark the launch, current players from the men’s and the women’s teams took part in a photoshoot that pays homage to legendary portraits of The Stone Roses. A short film, ‘Roses are Red,’ features players, legends and fans showcasing the collection and highlighting what the song ‘This Is the One’ means to them, with appearances by Gary Neville, Wes Brown and Liam Fray.

Billie: 10 Things I Hate About Bodycare

Personal care brand Billie has tapped its first-ever celebrity spokesperson for its latest ad campaign, ‘10 Things I Hate About Bodycare.’ In the spot, viewers see Jameela Jamil stand up in front of a class and read aloud a poem about all the ways brands make people, especially women and girls, feel inadequate about their appearance.

It is based on the 1999 romantic comedy movie 10 Things I Hate About You, which starred Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Julia Stiles.

Bodyarmor: Field of Fake by Full Contact Advertising

‘Field of Fake’ is the title of Bodyarmor’s uncanny and comical Super Bowl 58 spot, which aims to convey that there’s no substitute for reality in sports. The 30-second ad stars Christian McCaffrey, CeeDee Lamb, Joe Burrow, Alex Morgan, Ronald Acuna, and Connor McDavid; however, it will be obvious to any viewer that the entire commercial was created with AI.

Gen AI created both the commercial’s footage and audio pipeline with the help of a little traditional VFX and machine learning tools, according to Kristen Rumble, vice-president of strategy and creative at Bodyarmor. The Bodyarmor creative team led the campaign in collaboration with Full Contact Advertising.

Elf Cosmetics: Judge Beauty by Shadow

In a dazzling return to the Super Bowl spotlight, Elf Beauty revealed its second-ever Big Game campaign, ‘Judge Beauty,’ a star-studded spectacle featuring none other than judicial icon Judge Judy Sheindlin, presiding over a campy trial of beauty transgressions. The campaign was conceived, scripted, cast and produced by Shadow, while Tinuiti handled media planning.

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