High Five: Powerful Stunts and Reactive Campaigns
The world is on fire. The newspapers must be loving it, but all this madness means there’s a whole host of opportunities for brands to be at the heart of the cultural zeitgeist, so for this High Five, I’ve chosen my top five reactive ads and stunts from the past month. And it’s no mean feat getting out reactive work - it requires a killer idea thought up in seconds, a brave client who’s willing to run with it and a herculean effort to get it live before it’s no longer relevant. It’s proper advertising, done right...
Burger King - 'Boris and His Many Whoppers'
Agency: BBH London
The perfect sequel to the ‘Whoppers On the Side of a Bus’, this cheeky work by BBH went live as soon as Boris Johnson resigned from office, once again putting its famous burger at the heart of the work to poke at the PM telling a few too many porkie pies. Very funny, and got loads of coverage in the press and beyond. Job done!
Madame Tussauds - 'Boris at the Job Centre'
Agency: In-house at Madame Tussauds
Just because I can’t resist another poke at Boris, this was a fantastic stunt by Madame Tussauds Blackpool, who leapt into action after the announcement that the PM is standing down to move him outside the job centre. Brilliantly simple, and something only they could do.
Magnum - 'Enjoy It Before It Melts'
Agency: LOLA MullenLowe
Some may call this awards-bait (and you may be right), but I’m a sucker for beautiful posters so this had to make the list. It was a 24-hour campaign running on the UK’s hottest ever day, where London recorded 42 degree heat. The ads show the iconic Magnum ice-cream stick floating in a puddle of melted ice cream and chocolate. It’s simple, it’s brave and it’s oh-so-delicious. I would stare at it at a bus stop. I’d stop scrolling if it came up on my feed. Hell, I want it on my wall at home - and that’s the sign of a truly great ad. Now can somebody please pass me a Magnum?
Sainsbury's - 'Swede Carrot Lime'
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy London
It was the week of that final. England were experiencing a bit of déjà vu as once again they were playing at Wembley, except this time, it was the turn of the Lionnesses. And what comes hand-in-hand with English football? Swede carrot lime, of course. Ahem, sorry - *'Sweet Caroline'. I will be honest, once I got past the fact that the first vegetable wasn’t a turnip, this ad really made me smile and planted an earworm in my head. Looking at it now, it’s done it again. Sorry to all the readers if you have these vegetables rolling round your head for the rest of the day.
Butterkist - 'Here for Wagatha Christie'
Agency: St Luke’s
Butterkist has been right on the zeitgeist lately with its #PartyGate stunt outside Houses of Parliament, but the Wagatha Christie work really caught my eye. It was the thrilling conclusion of the trial none of us asked for, but all couldn’t help but hear about...did Vardy really leak all those posts? We were about to find out, and Butterkist was right there amongst the drama with this tongue-in-cheek ad: a courtroom sketch showing what was probably happening behind closed doors. Bonus points for the ad running in an actual, physical newspaper. What a joy!
