Best Ads of the Week: Monica Lewinsky stands against bullying & McVitie’s is in the news
There’s also a gory attack on curated catalogs from Ikea and EA Sports’ dynamic 3D billboards.
Jotex's Bladerunner-esque campaign chronicles an android's journey / Credit: Jotex
Every week, The Drum rounds up the top global campaigns from our Creative Works. You can submit your new work here.
This week, Jonathan Bennett channels Mean Girls to alert Tinder users about romance scams, Volvo and Eastern Standard Times celebrate Asian family values and Monica Lewinsky takes a stand against negative self-talk.
Advertisement
Tinder: October 3 by Mischief
Turns out, October 3 is not just the unofficial holiday for the cult classic film Mean Girls. In a ‘fetch’ PSA released October 3 (which also happens to be World Romance Scam Prevention Day), Tinder and Mean Girls actor Jonathan Bennett encourages users to ‘swipe left’ on online fraudsters.
Although the campaign is timed to the film’s 15th anniversary, it’s not just about nostalgia. The PSA is targeted at younger audiences, who typically believe romance scams only happen to older online users. However, the FBI reports that crypto scams, such as ’Pig Butchering,’ are now the largest financial scam in the US, totaling over $3bn in scam losses in 2022. Additionally, while older adults currently report the most romance scams, reports made by younger adults are increasing each year.
The campaign was created in partnership with the nonprofit organization Advocating Against Romance Scammers (AARS) and Tinder’s agency of record, Mischief @ No Fixed Address.
McVitie’s: There Is Only One by TBWA\London
In a new TV campaign, McVitie’s claims it is the original and most-loved biscuit brand in Britain.
The new ’There Is Only One’ spot features one of the country’s most loved and respected journalists, Trevor McDonald, who returns to a newsdesk for the first time since retiring 15 years ago.
Created by TBWA\London, the campaign will run across TV, cinema, broadcast-video-on-demand and online until November 11.
Advertisement
Who Gives a Crap: Winnie-the-Pooh: The Deforested Edition
Toilet paper brand Who Gives A Crap has unveiled its latest advertising campaign, ‘Winnie-The-Pooh: The Deforested Edition.’ By reimagining AA Milne’s children’s classic, it hopes to highlight the impact of deforestation around the world.
In the reworked illustrations, The Hundred Acre Wood has been reduced to stumps, reflecting the global environmental impact of deforestation from 1926 to today. Winnie and his friends are surrounded by felled tree stumps that represent the impact of land cleared every day to make traditional toilet paper.
Research conducted by the brand has shown that half of UK parents (53%) say their child has raised concerns about environmental issues. Still, a huge 86% of mums and dads of children aged 6-11 admitted that they’re sometimes or often unable to answer their child’s concerns.
Ikea: Life is Not an Ikea Catalog by Try
Ikea is stepping away from the picture-perfect catalog promo this week. In ‘Life is Not an Ikea Catalog,’ the Swedish retailer moves away from showcasing new products in its traditional, inspirational way. Instead, viewers see furniture being peed and vomited on. Plus there’s also a rogue teenager who has decided to throw a party while his parents are out, resulting in a total mess.
The spots signify that Ikea’s products are designed for life’s big and small challenges.
Suggested newsletters for you
Volvo: The Generational Drive by Eastern Standard Times
Although many distinct ethnic groups make up the Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, one common value unites them all: the paramount importance of family approval. A new ad campaign from Swedish automaker Volvo aims to honor this truth in an authentic way: ‘The Generational Drive: The Ultimate Approval.’ In two spots, Andrea Jin, a Chinese-Canadian comedian and Kevin Lee, a Korean-Canadian-American chef, take their actual grandmothers for joy rides in Volvo’s new XC40 and XC90. In the ads, the influencers show off the features of the electric SUVs while seeking genuine approval from their grandmothers.
Volvo enlisted Eastern Standard Times to create the ads with them. Co-founded in 2021 by former Vice Media executive Eric Tu and co-founder of music company 88 Rising Jaeson Ma, Eastern Standard Times is a new media outlet specializing in documentary-style stories about Asian youth.
Monica Lewinsky: Stand up to Yourself by Mischief
Monica Lewinsky, a social activist, filmmaker and Vanity Fair contributing editor, has released a new PSA that exposes an unrelenting bully that is rarely held accountable: ourselves. Titled ‘Stand up to Yourself,’ the film launches during National Bullying Prevention Month, a campaign held during the month of October to educate and raise awareness of bullying prevention.
Lewinsky’s spot highlights an often underacknowledged, yet rampant form of bullying: negative self-talk. In the film, people read aloud hurtful and insulting remarks to a loved one. They do so with visible difficulty due to the severity of their words. Later in the spot, the people reveal that they would never say these things to someone else, but rather, they are their own negative feelings about themselves.
EA Sports: OOH by mSix&Partners, Kinetic
Football enthusiasts and passersby in the UK may come across dynamic 3D ads featuring some of the biggest names in the sport: Erling Haaland and Vinicius Jr. The full-motion work heralds the launch of the rebranded ‘EA Sports FC 24,’ which was previously known as the ’EA Fifa’ franchise.
The out-of-home campaign entails a 3D anamorphic billboard in London’s famous Picadilly Lights, as well as two builds featuring colossal game cases at Westfield London and Manchester’s Trafford Centre. Behind the creative is a collaboration between Kinetic and mSix&Partners.
HM Prison & Probation Services: An Extraordinary Job by House 337
This week, HM Prison & Probation Services has released a 30-second film called ‘Someone Like You’ in a bid to attract prospective candidates to roles in the prison service, such as a prison or probation officer.
This is House 337’s first work for HMPPS after winning a major three-year recruitment brief from the Ministry of Justice. With fewer than 20% of people considering a role within the prison service, this campaign hopes to change that.
Heinz: Tomato Ketchup Pasta Sauce by Wunderman Thompson
Italians, look away now: Heinz has debuted Tomato Ketchup Pasta Sauce, a new sugo made from its famed red condiment.
Controversially, research from the brand has shown that 24% of Brits think it’s acceptable to put ketchup on pasta. This latest campaign leaves it up to you to decide whether the combo is ridiculously right or all kinds of wrong.
Sign up for your
Daily Dose of
Marketing Insights
Jotex: Living with Humans
Created in-house by the Jotex team, ‘Living With Human’ is a long-form ad featuring an AI being who robotically moves around a room as it begins to fill with furniture. As the scene plays out, it becomes apparent that the protagonist is struggling with her surroundings, and things begin to intensify. Inspiration for the ad came from Japanese architect Tadao Ando and the first Bladerunner movie. Fans of the Ridley Scott sci-fi film will spot some easter eggs throughout.
The final look of the set was first tested out by creating different 3D visualizations before being built in the Jotex studio. Yet, at a mammoth seven minutes long, the team stressed that this is tricky in the age of social media but after seeing Hertog’s performance, they were not afraid to go for it.
For more, sign up for The Drum’s daily newsletters.