A Guide to Dutch Immortal Creativity

The Netherlands is home to a number of massive brands, and its airline KLM (Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V) is one that really took flight with memorable ads, often featuring swans, that are seared into the memories of a generation, particularly those of 1990s and early 2000s.

These days, Josefien Olij is global VP of integrated marketing at another international Dutch giant, Philips, but when she was younger, those KLM ads were absolutely formative. The first one, in 1995, is perhaps the most famous of the bunch, winning the very first ‘Golden Loeki Award’, a local Dutch TV award for best commercial.

“The advertisements in the 1990s  and early 2000s produced by KLM, with the most famous from 1995, were easily recognisable by the swan in the leading role, reminding the Dutch how good holiday times are starting with KLM,” recalls Josefien. “An iconic ad living in the memories of many Dutchies and remarkable as Dutch advertising is often defined by the typical Dutch humour. For years, the swan was the symbol of KLM. The airline changed it when the swan no longer fit with the modern times. Not only was the swan central to the advertisements, the white bird was also present on board. For example, KLM handed out toys and books of 'Captain Swan' to children.”

Nose picking and terrible driving make this ad for ice lolly Fruit Joy from agency Lowe Kuiper and Schouten, let’s say, ‘category defying’. Small wonder it’s one that stayed with the Netherlands’ ‘90s kids. If nose picking doesn’t bestow immortality upon an ad, frankly, what does? For those who don’t speak Dutch, the dialogue runs a little like this: 

For ‘90s kids, Cheil Benelux’s Tim de Waard and Daniel Samama, and their team, this is an ad that they’re always talking about.“This classic Dutch commercial keeps coming back in conversations around our creative floor. Not just because it is hilarious, but also because it never would’ve made it past client feedback and test panels in this day and age. And that’s a pity, because, even though it’s a food advertising that features relentless nose picking and ends with a car crash, it’s exactly those things that made it memorable and skyrocketed the multi-colored ice cream into every Dutch person’s youth nostalgia.”

 

 

Here’s an ad that truly entered pop culture - a tale of a scruffy goatherd who transforms himself into a suave skier in pursuit of a cheeky beer, with a catchphrase that’s like a Pavlovian trigger in the Netherlands. Heineken’s ‘Biertje’, which roughly translates as ‘little beer’, is a nostalgic classic.

It’s a real favourite of Josefien Olij who, before working at Philips, worked at Heineken from 2008 to 2022 and was able to get an inside view of the ad’s relaunch in 2021 .

“Iconic advertising has a unique power to transcend its original purpose, embedding itself in culture and becoming a shared reference point for generations. The Heineken "Heyyyy biertje" campaign is a perfect example of this phenomenon. It not only sold beer but also became a cultural symbol in the Netherlands, with its catchphrase and humour resonating deeply with the Dutch public,” says Josefien.

“The decision to revive the "Heyyyy biertje" campaign during the reopening of terraces in April 2021 was a brilliant move. By bringing back the beloved ski instructor Rudi, Heineken tapped into nostalgia while also celebrating a moment of communal joy after the long months of lockdown. This ad didn’t just mark a return to normalcy; it reaffirmed Heineken's place in Dutch culture, showing how advertising, when done well, can become part of a nation's collective memory and identity.”

 

Not gonna lie, this one goes hard. An impeccable example of dry Dutch humour and 90s brazenness, this anti-smoking ad from BVH shocked parents and got the message across to teens. Who knew, gross out humour beats dull lecturing.

Clio Leeuwenburgh, Sync Licensing Manager at MassiveMusic, was one such teen, and now as an adult has a twisted association between cigarettes and, err, ‘apple juice’ wired permanently into her brain.

“Like most Dutch high school kids in the late 90s, my eyeballs were firmly planted on music video channel TMF (The Music Factory) in my free time. Sandwiched between Hype Williams-directed hip-hop, bubblegum pop stars and nu-metal bands were commercials for compilation CDs, ‘sexy’ body sprays and the occasional public service announcement. One such PSA I distinctly remember was Stivoro’s anti-smoking campaign which featured teenagers displaying obnoxious behaviour while proudly proclaiming: “...Maar Ik Rook Niet” (“...But I Don’t Smoke”). This particular commercial featuring a disgruntled sommelier serving a rude guest made a strong impression on not only me, but also on the rest of the country because the network was flooded with complaints from concerned parents who feared their children would encourage bad manners. On the upside, smoking among teens did decrease significantly, myself included.”

Holy wow. So we don’t have a case study for this one, but we do have a Youtube deep dive, which we implore you to watch. The TLDW is that Big Brother producer Endemol and Dutch TV broadcaster BNN trolled a nation (and the world) by declaring that they were to air a reality TV show in which people in need of a donor kidney competed to win the kidney of a terminally ill woman. 

For Tim de Waard and Daniel Samama watching at the time, this was the definition of car crash TV - until it turned out to be a devilishly daring stung.

 

“A Dutch TV show revolving around a terminally ill woman who had candidates with kidney failure battle for her healthy kidneys, after her imminent death. Obviously, the show sparked huge outrage,” they explain. “Just before the winner was chosen, the owner of the broadcasting association, Bart de Graaff, stepped in and announced it was all a stunt to show people how desperate life for people with kidney failure is. Bart himself was a public figure and a known kidney donor recipient. The show created enormous attention for the situation and is still seen as one of the best media stunts ever pulled in the Netherlands.”

 

2011’s The Entrance was a statement of intent for one of the Netherlands’ most successful exports, Heineken. The ad, created by Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam and directed by Fredrik Bond, sees a suave James Bond wannabe carouse his way into a party, making an epic entrance. Throughout the ad, he pulls magic tricks, shoots hoops, takes on a martial arts master and plays a mean jazz flute in a display of opulent bombast.

Now, and this is a matter of personal preference, while The Entrance made the splash and garnered awards, ‘The Date’, which followed six months later, also has a glimmer of immortality thanks to its groovy 1960s Bollywood banger soundtrack, Mohammed Rafi’s ‘Jaan Pehechan Ho’, that’s impossible to forget.

Intergalactic action comes to an abruptly sticky end in this memorable campaign for Dutch insurance company Centraal Beheer. Created by DDB Amsterdam and Stink, it’s a favourite of Clio Leeuwenburgh, who says that of all of the brand's quirky commercials, this one really cut through thanks to the commitment to the bit.

 

“Dutch Insurance company Centraal Beheer has been known for its wacky commercials surrounding absurd accidents since the mid-80s, and the iconic slogan “Even Apeldoorn Bellen” (“Gotta call Apeldoorn”, where the company’s HQ is located) has become synonymous with being in a pickle for as long as I can remember. Out of the 60+ commercials they’ve produced over the years, they really went all out with this insane UFO invasion story. As a sci-fi fan I love seeing the genre being done right with incredible costume design and SFX in addition to a fun plot twist. It almost makes you want to take out an alien abduction insurance (yes, this exists)!”

 

Years before the MCU multiverse started fiddling around with alternate realities, Nike and Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam were messing about with the sacred timeline. ‘Write the Future’ was a budget-busting epic, directed by none other than Alejandro González Iñárritu, for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. In it, the likes of Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba, and Cristiano Ronaldo explore the future consequences of success and failure on the pitch, and there are plenty of non-footballing cameos from Homer Simpson, Kobe Bryant, and Roger Federer. Its two month shoot is the stuff of industry legend and, 14 years later, it’s still a firm favourite.

 

This Facebook experience was created by Tribal DDB, devised by Bart Mol / Art Director & Pol Hoenderboom https://lbbonline.com/news/new-talent-bart-mol-pol-hoenderboom in an attempt to elevate Philips’ audio products in the eyes (and ears) of ‘sound aspirers’ and prove that Philips speakers would allow them to hear every detail. The experience involved a collaboration with the Metropole Orchestra. A bespoke orchestral piece was composed, with 55 individual tracks, and through the experience users could choose whether to listen to everything together or to single out individual musicians.

If immortality is all about impact, it’s hard to deny Sweetie, a virtual 10-year-old girl who helped turn 1,000 predators over to Interpol. Created by LEMZ, MediaMonks and Code d’Azur this was a project that showcased how creatively harnessing the rapidly evolving tech of the 2010s could help address overwhelming social ills. In 2014, this project wowed juries at Cannes and D&AD and ten years later it’s certainly worth looking back on this milestone, which set the scene for the combination of tech and purpose which would inform the industry for the following decade. 

‘The Next Rembrandt’ deserves its place in history. This 2016 campaign predates the generative AI art explosion by a good few years, and yet its use of data and algorithms to create a ‘new’ Rembrandt painting is remarkably prescient. The 3D-printed image, which attempts to capture Rembrandt’s work down to the texture of his brush strokes, was the product of an 18-month journey that involved analysing Rembrandt’s 346 paintings using 3D scans. Created for banking client ING, the project was a collaboration between the artist formerly known as JWT Amsterdam, Microsoft,advisors from Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), The Mauritshuis and Museum Het Rembrandthuis.

Another campaign that was eerily prescient. Axe’s ‘Find Your Magic’, from 72andSunny Amsterdam, represented a step change for the Unilever brand which had been largely focused on helping horny lads in their quest for babelicious angels and such. ‘Find Your Magic’ took a different route, trying to build up the confidence of boys and young men by encouraging them to celebrate their uniqueness. Looking back on the spot from the vantage point of 2024, where online misogy-blokes are taking advantage of lost boys, it seems that there’s some lasting wisdom and insight to be found in this campaign, which represents a more positive and hopeful way to engage.