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Creative Director’s Choice: The Odd Shop's Niels de Wit on Fanta's ode to idiots

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By Imogen Watson, Senior reporter

May 27, 2020 | 3 min read

Creative Director’s Choice gives creative directors a chance to highlight the best work and spotlight campaigns that are making a difference.

Fanta: Idiots Are Amazing

Fanta: Idiots Are Amazing

In this edition, The Odd Shop's Niels de Wit commends Fanta's 'Idiots Are Amazing' for putting stupidity on a pedestal.

Niels de Wit

Einstein once said: “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.”

We live in a world where brands love to portray everything is awesome – from ‘awesome‘ products or the go-to brand for ‘awesome‘ people. If that was truly the case then Einstein’s quote seems rather incorrect. I find myself asking, why does everything have to be so goddamn awesome or perfect? Why can’t brands just bask in the glory of stupidity?

The world is filled with stupidity and why not put that on a pedestal? The internet is without a shadow of a doubt ground zero for human stupidity; a cesspool of images capturing people doing the weirdest things. So when Kevin Weir and Chris Colliton from 72andSunny were tasked with creating a new global campaign for Fanta, the internet was the first place they looked for inspiration.

From the outset the two gentlemen had one goal: “To make all of Europe a little dumber“. So rather than celebrating awesomeness, they decided to celebrate stupidity. And in that stupidity they saw the pinnacle of human beauty, from a grown-up man dressed up in giraffe costume forward flipping on a trampoline to a woman diving headfirst into a pile of snow and a young man dressed in a gown sliding over ice while reading a book. Somehow when watching this, nobody has the power to look away. It’s mesmerizing.

When I first saw the Fanta campaign it made me smile and it made me laugh out loud. At a time when we are inundated with films about everyone being fantastic, a brand like Fanta, which is not always known for great creative advertising, dares to pay homage to the idiots. An ode which I hope, as a professional idiot, more brands embrace.

Fanta: Idiots Are Amazing

By Fanta

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