Work of the Week: 20/10/23

As a British millennial whose formative teenage years involved the consumption of a lot of indie music with a heavy-handed sprinkling of late '90s dance, I loved all of these spots as soon as the music kicked in. But at the hands of Daniel Wolfe and fellow Love Song director Elliot Power, there's a lot more to this EE campaign - created by a cross-agency team from Publicis Groupe - than nostalgia-stroking music supervision. Each made me question if it was actually my favourite of the bunch, but the truth is that it's impossible to choose. The campaign is part of the British telecommunications company's biggest brand launch in a decade, and my colleague Laura got the lowdown from both EE and Publicis Groupe.  

The Monkeys, part of Accenture Song and director Kim Gehrig collaborated with Australian singer Tim Minchin on this epic musical tribute to mark 50 years of the Sydney Opera House. Tim's lyrics for 'Play It Safe' act as a musical homage to one of the world's most iconic buildings, a structure that tested the limits of engineering and design. The film, produced by Revolver x Somesuch, is an elaborate journey through the Opera House's stage, steps and peak of its white sails. 

Is it at all a surprise that Hiro Murai's first commercial in four years is wondrous? It somehow has extra appeal, at least to me, that it's just 30 seconds, rather than an awkward cutdown of something longer. To quote my colleague Ben Conway, "With satisfyingly destructive VFX from a52, the spot adds a new meaning to 'ground-breaking' tech."

The first of two Halloween campaigns to feature is from Burger King, a brand with history in the field. Dentsu Creative USA enlisted Wild Gift director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, known for his Emmy-nominated work on 'American Horror Story: Coven', for this well crafted spot that has equal parts spook and camp. 'The Call' was shot in one day on the same California set location used to film 'Jeepers Creepers', and the car being driven was featured in 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'. 

“Nazis are surprisingly innovative when it comes to spreading their racist beliefs." Luckily, the creative teams at Jung von Matt, are pretty innovative themselves. A new campaign for Laut gegen Nazis (Aloud against Nazis) is aiming to stop racist phrases being printed on merchandise by buying up the trademark rights for abbreviated phrases that Nazis use to circumvent laws around hate speech. 

Created by TBWA\Chiat\Day LA, this short film for Jack in the Box was actually written by Hollywood-pedigreed horror writers Marcus Dunstan, Asha Michelle Wilson, Patrick Melton and Kara Lee Corthron, respectively known for their work on projects like 'American Horror Story: 1984', 'Servant' and the 'Saw' film franchise. Directly impacted by the WGA Writers Strike, these writers were a part of the creative/script development, giving them an outlet to continue their creative output. 

The drag of societal norms is demonstrated in an enjoyable, retro-feeling way in this MTN DEW spot from TBWA\Chiat\Day New York. Directed by Biscuit Filmworks' Los Perez, the film sees three characters transformed into otherworldly creatures as a fun-filled day unfolds after a sip or two of the luminous beverage.