Work of the Week: 15/08/25
adidas - Liverpool FC’s 2025–26 Kit Launch
Chosen by Abi Lightfoot, Americas reporter
’Tis the season of football kit launches – and this one in particular is a good ‘un. Kicking off adidas and Liverpool FC’s new ten year partnership, the film, created by agency The Midnight Club and directed by Saman Aminzadeh through Love Song, takes fans on a surreal journey starring club legends past and present.
In the spot, a young football fan’s trip to an adidas store after hours takes an unexpected twist. First, she’s an attendee at a red-and-white-hued dinner party accompanied by an array of star players. This is followed by a trip to an ethereal forest – for some shot-taking practice – of course. After venturing through the club’s jam-packed trophy room, she finally lands on the Anfield pitch, where the statement ‘Your Dream. Our Reality’ proudly adorns the reddened sky.
The club’s heritage is a clear thread running through every frame, an Easter egg hunt for eagle-eyed fans and football enthusiasts. Even for non-football fans, the film’s production value and heightened, dreamlike sense of awe is sure to secure the win.
Channel 4 - School's Back
Chosen by Tará McKerr, Americas reporter
Channel 4 hands the keys to the kids as Dougal Wilson’s one-take caper ricochets through Thornhill Community Academy. Science bangs, the school band ‘Unjust Detention’ thrashes, and a pupil is fired from a cannon, stitching a meta riff on ‘What even is a trailer?’ into something exuberant and properly public service.
4creative ran 12 workshops with 400-plus pupils across three Yorkshire schools who wrote, performed, produced, and even bought the media. Their fingerprints are everywhere – OOH from 25 August, student-voiced radio, takeovers of Channel 4’s socials, and a soundtrack they composed with Leland.
For educating Yorkshire’s return, it reframes the national narrative around young people to less panic, more potential – and reminds you why Channel 4 still matters when it backs real voices and joyful chaos. Quite brilliantly.
Toyota - Let's Go Places
Chosen by April Summers, North Americas features lead
Sometimes a really simple idea is just the ticket. Best not to overthink it, just show the audience exactly what you mean. The proof is in the pudding.
In the case of this latest chapter of Toyota's brand campaign 'Let's Go Places', the idea comes from Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand and is brought to life by Scoundrel's director Tim Bullock. In a very meta take, the spot sees a host of ordinary Kiwi folk – and a few famous faces – in various Toyota vehicles, as they are held at a busy intersection. Each carful is weighing up the likelihood of them being unwittingly featured in an ad for the brand. The clever play here being that, in New Zealand, one in four vehicles are in fact Toyota.
In addition to proving that the brand is the most popular in the country, it also serves as further proof that dry Kiwi wit is razor sharp.
Up In Arms - Hiroshima Doll Protest at Disney
Chosen by Sunna Coleman, Asia reporter
What do you do when unthinkable events are taking place across the world but not enough is being done about it? You stage a breakthrough.
Unbeknown to Disneyland, on August 3rd, a small ash-covered doll holding a sign reading 'Remember Hiroshima' was smuggled in and placed inside the It’s a Small World ride. "Why did we do this? Because on the 80th anniversary of Hiroshima, we need to remember what war does to kids." This was the statement from activist Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s, who was behind the protest with Up In Arms, a new activist initiative he’s launched.
It's a Small World is "a ride that celebrates the kind of world we want for our children," Ben says. "So we put her there to speak for the kids we didn't save.” The stunt triggered viral videos and national media coverage, sparking renewed global discussion about the human cost of war.
Dutch Customs - The Cabinet of Customs Curiosities
Chosen by Laura Swinton Gupta, editor in chief
My husband is a wonderful man, but his taste in TV is not. As such I’ve been subjected to every iteration of ‘Border Control’, ‘UK Border Force’, ‘Border Patrol’, ‘Nothing to Declare’. If it’s got a suitcase packed with dodgy dried newts and more latex gloves than your local prostate exam clinic, I’ve seen it. And so this campaign from Monks tackles an issue I’m all too familiar with: people blithely bringing outlandish contraband through customs. But rather than take the familiar finger wagging approach, it’s quirky, engaging and actually pretty fun. Social videos and digital OOH features a dark lacquered cabinet laden with everything from coral to snakeskin boots, and is executed in a playful nod to the Netherlands' rich Renaissance art history.
AB InBev - Cheers to Bars
Chosen by Addison Capper, managing editor, Americas
Name a better way to dive into a city’s culture than its bars. From New York's sawdust laden dive bars, to Berlin's moody corner Kneipes and the snugness of Tokyo's Golden Gai, many of my favourite travel memories have been made observing locals raise a glass. So I’m naturally a fan of this AB InBev ad from GUT, which toasts neighbourhood pubs, bars and taverns around the world. Set to Billy Joel’s nostalgic anthem Piano Man, the spot uses purely archival footage to showcase iconic venues: CBGB, the New York underground haunt that launched punk; Liverpool’s Cavern Club, early home to The Beatles; and London’s Freemason’s Arms, cited as the birthplace of football. Cheers to you, bars.
Telstra - Scamaggedon
Chosen by Tess Connery-Britten, news and features editor AUNZ
Telstra has recruited Steve Buscemi to turn network security into a sci-fi spectacle.
The actor stars as emperor of the Zalunians, an alien species plotting to cripple Australia’s mobile networks, only to be foiled by the security of Telstra’s “mighty network”.
Created by Bear Meets Eagle on Fire and +61, and directed by Smuggler’s Randy Krallman, the 90-second hero spot leans into retro-futuristic design. From green computer monitors, analogue buttons, and the sound of old dial-up internet, the alien world is one that feels familiar – if in sore need of an upgrade.
Creative director Ian Williamson told LBB the team drew inspiration from Flash Gordon’s ‘Ming the Merciless’, original ‘Star Trek’ and ‘SpaceBalls’, with retro-futuristic set design bringing the look together. It’s the latest example of the team’s attention to detail, and the same care applied to a product demo that saw Telstra use 20,000 dominoes used to illustrate its fluidity of internet coverage.
It’s well crafted, very funny, and proof that even aliens can’t outsmart Telstra.
The campaign is also something new for the brand platform, with its first foray into celebrity advertising – further proving CMO Brent Smart is keeping his promise that Telstra’s marketing should “feel the same, not look the same”.
Pol Roger - Proudly Understated
Chosen by Zhenya Tsenzharyk, UK editor
Advertising in the luxury category, especially around alcohol, often struggles. It wants to convey luxury and it wants to not look like every other ad doing the same thing. Take champagne. I immediately picture champagne towers, celebrations, dates, and parties in the style of 'The Great Gatsby'. It all feels done, no? Orange Panther Collective spurned sentimentality, decadence, and cliché in favour of restraint for champagne brand Pol Roger in the latest iteration of the 'Proudly Understated' campaign, with the last instalment arriving last month.
Instead, the ad – on an expanse of beautifully textured, starched white tablecloth – features a piece of trash: the foil discarded from a bottle of champagne. And the copy is a deliberate provocation, best read (I imagine) with a raised eyebrow, 'Or would you prefer something more obvious?' Delicious.
itsu - Do You Want Dim Sum?
Chosen by Alex Reeves, managing editor, EMEA
First, they brought back Ronnie Pickering, now itsu and Block Report continue to resurrect some of the best British meme videos ever known. In a companion piece to its Ronnie Pickering sequel last month – which clocked up over 4 million views and boosted branded search interest by 15% – itsu has served up something even closer to my heart. It’s brought back the Wealdstone Raider (real name Gordon Hill), for a pitch-perfect reshoot of his 2014 viral glory (“you’ve got no fans…”). Only this time, he’s offering dim sum. I can’t stop smiling at this.
Shot at Whitehawk FC, it’s a love letter to a true legend of UK internet culture. The leather jacket, the pointed finger, that trademark snarl – all recreated with affectionate precision by the teams at Block Report and Nice Productions. This is ‘memestalgia’ at its finest: low-hanging-fruit wordplay elevated by reverence for a holy source. Whether you’re still quoting him (like much of the LBB office) a decade on or just meeting him now via a meme page, the Raider’s magic remains undimmed – and itsu’s given it a delicious new flavour.
Sparkasse - Schwein Gehabt
Chosen by Aysun Bora, Germany reporter
A new Sparkasse piggy bank horror game on Fortnite? Not on my bingo card for this year. While I have no idea about Fortnite, I can appreciate that Jung von Matt SPORTS managed to create an original piece of branded advertising with the help of streamers like HandOfBlood who are known nationwide.
Throughout the trailer you really feel for the piggy Berta, who is just trying to get to the bank safely, without being destroyed by her owner Tilda.
The film is beautifully crafted with an attention to detail and a lovely animation look, especially through the help of Oscar-winning production studio Passion Pictures, and the audio agency German Wahnsinn.
Since the game only launched yesterday, I am really nosy about what the response is going to be like. The product, idea and visuals are very promising.
Sky Bet - Not for Everyone. For the Fans.
Chosen by Paul Monan, head of creative excellence
With the return of the Premier League this weekend – and the opening rounds of fixtures in each of Europe's major leagues imminent – there's been an abundance of football-themed gambling ads the last week or so. Whilst many conform to the familiar and abide to category tropes, Anomaly's new work for Sky Bet, 'Not for everyone. For the fans.', leans into cinematic intensity across a hero film (shot by Brentford fan and director Elliott Power) and OOH campaign (captured by Arsenal fan and photographer Jane Stockdale and Club Atlético Huracán fan Daniela Spina).
The black-and-white campaign focuses not on the football but the fans. It's a visual, visceral love letter to fandom that channels the (rare) highs and (far too common) lows that come with following your club. This didn't resonate with everyone in the office but, as a long-suffering Charlton supporter and occasional Sky Bet customer, did with me – proving that this one really isn't for everyone, just for the fans.
Amazon Ads - Gain the Edge
Chosen by Ben Conway, Americas reporter
Created by Anomaly and directed by Stink's Hernan Corera, this comedic B2B campaign uses a sibling rivalry to showcase how Amazon Ads can help small and medium-sized businesses 'Gain the Edge'. A brother and sister, proprietors or rival car garages, battle it out for their share of the market with democratised video advertising tools that give their smaller marketing budgets a real boost.
The characters have plenty of personality, backed up by some fun set and costume design choices, and really sell the silly premise with a surprising amount of charm. Throw in some funny quips, and the two 30-second spots – narrative inversions of each other with ample opportunities for myriad cutdowns – are effective product demos that communicate smaller businesses' problems, and this solution, succinctly and enjoyably.
