Work of the Week: 29/08/25
New York Times - It’s Your World to Understand
Chosen by April Summers, North America features lead
I think this might be a perfect ad. And I don't say that lightly, but to me, a great ad doesn't really feel like an ad at all. It's opening gambit should suck you in and get onside, it's message resonating deeply.
Created by Isle of Any, and directed by MJZ’s Camille Summers-Valli, 'It's Your World to Understand' does exactly that. Within the first few seconds your attention has been grabbed, catapulted through a myriad of colourful everyday scenarios which feel familiar, relatable and wholly human. Through this type of filmmaking, NYT instantly appears to understand you, to relate to you. And as a result, a compulsion to trust this brand is forged.
This ad is a great reminder that no matter how different we look, love, learn, or play, no matter how different our interests are and how divided that may make us, we can all agree that the human experience is a thing of wonder that we're all doing our best to understand.
Destination Canada - Canada, Naturally
Chosen by Sunna Coleman, reporter, Asia
I'd love to see more ads that don't fight for attention but slowly draw you in. In ‘Canada, Naturally’ we're treated to tranquil, slow vignettes that each capture the essence of travelling Canada. Breathtaking nature. Copious amounts of snow. The warmth of locals.
Shot on 35mm, the three films have a lovely cinematic quality and lean into understated everyday moments of adventure and wonder. Together, they begin to build a picture of what it feels like to experience Canada, gently urging your inner explorer to set off on your next big adventure.
Vivobarefoot- Free Your Feet
Chosen by Zara Naseer, EMEA reporter
As someone who regularly Googles “podiatrist-approved shoe brands,” I was very happy to see functional shoes getting the love they deserve in Vivobarefoot’s first-ever brand awareness campaign. Whilst they’re so obviously better for our bodies, they’re not exactly cool, so a PR makeover might be just what’s needed. It’s got gorgeous mixed-media animation, intricate sound design, and a score that I’d even describe as cinematic – all for the most lowly part of our bodies.
The campaign was developed by independent ‘anti-advertising’ agency Thingy&Thingy®, founded by former ACNE London ECD and Wieden+Kennedy CD, Darren Simpson, and seasoned CD Thais Delcanton to provide the antidote to formulaic, buzzword-ridden campaigns.
Crayola - Creative Acts of Colour
Chosen by Ben Conway, Americas reporter
Crayola’s 'Creative Acts of Colour' from Dentsu Creative US has all the hallmarks of a campaign that would usually be too saccharine for my taste. There's the piano soundtrack, the child's narration, the pulling on familial heartstrings, and yet there's something undeniably authentic and charming about how it all comes together.The Crayola crayons become this gateway to a global community of artists, and we see the young protagonist's dreams be realised in glorious technicolour. The heart-warming story, paired with the huge surprise activation and Caydence's genuine, palpable shock is moving without being overly sweet, and perfectly in-tune with the brand.
EE - First Day
Chosen by Alex Reeves, managing editor, EMEA
It’s another stonker of an EE film from Saatchi & Saatchi London, putting the deft touch of director Daniel Wolfe to work. Like the last time I wrote about the telecoms brand’s work, I clicked on this with high expectations and I wasn’t disappointed. As always, the music (‘90s dancefloor filler ‘You’re Not Alone’ by Olive) delivers emotional potency unlike the vast majority of what’s filling our ad breaks and prerolls. But this time, the tone is far less celebratory than previous outings. In a bid to promote EE’s Safer SIMs that help protect under 18s, the story viscerally demonstrates the torture that having a portal to all of cyberspace in your hand can be for young people. It creates a level of discomfort that not many advertisers would be happy to showcase in their campaigns. But EE and Saatchi & Saatchi have earned the right to be bold over the past couple of years. Then there's the broader campaign around the film, supported by Digitas and the rest of Publicis Groupe UK. It's potent stuff.
Disney - All Princesses Make Magic
Chosen by Abi Lightfoot, Americas reporter
Growing up, Belle’s golden ballgown often made its way onto my Christmas list. I never got it - but you can bet that I found a way to fashion my own and turn those ‘Beauty and the Beast’ visions into a reality. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons I loved Disney’s ‘All Princesses Make Magic’ campaign so much this week. Featuring two sisters staging the princess tea party of dreams – soundtracked by ‘Be Our Guest’ of course – for their mum, I was transported back to my childhood, and to spending hours upon hours building worlds with my sister.
The campaign speaks to both adults and kids and is an absolute visual feast for eagle-eyed Disney fans thanks to the insane number of references to the Disney Princess Universe. Showing the cross-generational power of Disney, the magical yet homemade-feeling campaign highlights the boundless creativity of children’s imaginations alongside the nostalgic joy of a parent rediscovering their own childhood memories.Created by agency Fallon and directed by The Fridman Sisters through Stink, the film captures the essence of childlike play as rules fly out the window and Princesses step out of their fictional worlds to meet in this wonderful, homemade mayhem.
Spotify - Fan Life
Chosen by Paul Monan, head of creative excellence
Spotify's 'Fan Life' campaign returned this week, with a seven film follow up to April's OOH debut that put fandoms first. Created in-house, the cinematic series further celebrates the spirit of real fans by focussing on the defining features and styles of their fandoms. The exploration of these communities - rather than the artists they adore - evolves from photography to moving image and amplifies the rituals and celebrations that fans of the likes of Bad Bunny, Charli xcx, and Pitbull partake in. With plans to expand into local markets (including Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Mexico, Brazil and the UK), it's a brand platform that has real potential to grow into both mainstream and niche communities alike.
IRN-BRU - This is not a soft drink
Chosen by Addison Capper, managing editor, Americas
IRN-BRU has revived its iconic 'Made in Scotland from Girders' line in Lucky Generals’ first campaign for the brand. First coined in the 1980s, the slogan played on the drink’s inclusion of ammonium ferric citrate – an additive containing iron – and became a tongue-in-cheek symbol of Scottish grit and resilience. Scottish agency Leith built IRN-BRU’s reputation on famously funny ads - Fanny, I'm looking at you - so it’s a relief to see the humour continue, even as the line is recycled and updated for today in this spot directed by Love Song's Elliot Power. Iron in the veins now becomes iron in the heart. Less about muscle, more about courage, individuality and guts.
Lacoste - From Crocodile to the Goat
Chosen by Olivia Atkins, EMEA Editor
BETC Paris’ 'From a Crocodile to the Goat' campaign for Lacoste marks a bold yet minimalistic redesign of the brand’s iconic logo, reimagining the crocodile as a goat, recognising its ambassador Novak Djokovic’s extraordinary career. The execution cleverly champions Djokovic’s dominance on all four court surfaces while retaining Lacoste’s signature dot-work, ensuring the logo feels both transformed and unified with its heritage.
MobileMuster – However It Dies
Chosen by Tess Connery-Britten, news and features editor AUNZ
Enigma tasked artist James Dive – founder and creative director of Studio Dive – with creating theatrical, mechanical public artworks that fit within the confines of a bus shelter, and come to life with the push of a button.
The three resulting installations across Sydney – a washing machine near a laundromat, a dancing boot near nightclubs, and an underwater scene featuring device-eating clams by the beach – are mechanically impressive, and visually beautiful. And they each tell a story of common ways phones are destroyed in order to encourage the recycling of old devices.
Because each installation had to fit within the confines of a standard bus shelter panel, the washing machine is only 10 centimetres wide, and can be seen from both sides of the bus shelter.
In a world flooded with dull, these are the antithesis. They’re art, and give people a reason to take in, and interact with them, while waiting for the bus. I only wish I’d stumbled upon one in the wild, unknowing, and pressed the button to see the whole scene whir into life.
In a piece of near-instant feedback for the dancing boot, Enigma CCO Simon Lee told LBB, “We were walking away and we saw a bunch of teenagers – who didn't know that we were the installers – flock towards the bus shelter.
“One of our team sidled along subtly behind them, and the teenagers pressed the button and watched the boot start to do its thing. One of them was heard to say, ‘This is actually cool.’”
The teenagers are right.
