Work of the Week: 25/04/25
adidas - Adaptive Shoe
Chosen by Jordan Won Neufelt, Canada reporter
To be frank, this is absolutely brilliant work from the teams at FCB Canada and adidas. It’s the type of campaign that, as a journalist, you actually want to tell your friends and family that you wrote about, and more than that, it touches on an insight that makes you say, “I can’t believe nobody ever thought to do this before!” After all, if people with Down Syndrome suffer from genetic foot anomalies, making shoes that better suit their needs seems like not only a great thing to do, but the right thing. Kudos to the agency team for driving this initiative across the past three years, and providing the industry with another valuable reminder that sometimes, brilliant innovation can come from the most simple of insights.
Telstra - Silent Films: Mirror Mirror
Chosen by Tom Loudon, ANZ reporter
Telstra's surreal series of silent black-and-white films for cinemas use a blend of practical and computer-generated effects to create memorable characters including a magnetic boy, a dancing table, and a werewolf.
Developed with Bear Meets Eagle On Fire and FINCH director Dougal Wilson - his firs commercial work for years - the campaign reimagines the traditional "silence your phone" message as three vintage-inspired shorts.
The films – ‘Mirror Mirror’, ‘Four-Legged Friend’, and ‘Magnetic Boy’ – deliberately avoid conventional advertising tropes. As Micah Walker, founder and CCO of Bear Meets Eagle On Fire, explained to LBB, "With cinema, you have a captive audience that has come to be entertained."
Dougal drew inspiration from classic Hollywood. ‘Mirror Mirror’ transitions from 1930s romantic drama to 1950s horror, while ‘Four-Legged Friend’ channels MGM musicals.
“I loved these ideas, and crafting them with my wonderful production team and crew was a hugely enjoyable experience," he said.
The New Yorker - Everything, Covered – 100 Years of The New Yorker
Chosen by Tará McKerr, Americas reporter
Oh so satisfying. Celebrating The New Yorker’s centenary, this delicious spot is the magazine’s first ever video campaign. It tells the story of coverage, through the medium of real New Yorker covers that have been printed over the past 100 years – no pressure, then. Covering everything from culture and art to social justice, war and school shootings – all the defining moments of America’s recent history.
Guided by a simple script, riddled with ear-pleasing repetition, it’s arty in all the right places and you can instantly sniff how much work would have gone into the curation process alone.
Stella Artois - Hiders Keepers
Chosen by Ben Conway, Americas reporter
Photographer Ale Burset captures some of the most devious party behaviour in Ogilvy's latest campaign for Stella Artois. A sneaky life hack for some, I'd argue it's quite the social faux pas. Sharing is caring – and if you bring drinks to an occasion, there are few things more selfish than squirrelling them away behind the pickle jar and yoghurts.
However, as a marketing insight goes, 'Hiders Keepers' is brilliantly simple. What better way of saying that Stella Artois is so good that you won't want to share it? Many people will be able to relate – and shame on you, truly – but the 'Where's Wally?', hide-and-seek photography used in the OOH and print makes this a worthy contender for the top work this week.
SASA LELE is HERE - Flipkart
Chosen by Zoe Antonov, Europe reporter
Flipkart and FCB Kinnect have done the impossible – they’ve made an ad jingle that’s an actual earworm. How vintage? I genuinely can’t remember the last time I struggled to forget an ad accompaniment, so it’s an immediate win on that front.
Secondly, saying SaSa LeLe instead of just ‘sale’ because it’s a ‘double’ sale, is genius too. And on top of all that, you have a truly brilliant film that showcases Flipkart’s absurd, but weirdly attractive and endless list of choices. It’s chaotic, artsy, funny, it’s everything an ad should be. I love love it it.
Güitig - Unrepeatable Ads
Chosen by Aysun Bora, Germany reporter
There is something fascinating about watching the movement of bubbles on a huge billboard live stream. The Ecuadorian water company that drew my attention through its unusual live stream campaign is Güitig. On the surface it looks like just another water ad. But after taking a closer look its brand is unique. After all, Güitig gets its water from the Cotopaxi volcano and with that, has access to the only naturally sparkling water in the whole of the Americas. This campaign from MullenLowe Delta shows a live stream from the volcanic water in Ecuador and highlights how every bottle is special and made off of hundreds of unique bubbles. The campaign plays into the strengths of the brand while showcasing them through an innovative idea. Its crisp visuals of deep blue and carbonated water makes anyone stop in their tracks, hypnotised by the movement on screen. Overall, definitely one of the best work this week that leaves you intrigued and thirsty for more.
Apple - Clean Up Photos: Flex
Chosen by Abi Lightfoot, Americas reporter
We’ve all been there. You’ve finally taken the perfect photo, only to find there’s someone unscrupulously pulling a face or picking their nose in the background. Well now, thanks to Apple’s ‘Clean Up’ technology, we no longer have to call-on the one friend in the group who knows how to edit, and can do it ourselves in a few simple steps.
The campaign, directed by Andreas Nilsson through Biscuit Filmworks features a young man with a remarkably memorable hairstyle posing for the camera, flexing his hard-earnt muscles. Photographed by his incredibly proud mother, her admiring face is seen in the mirror in each photo. Whilst the photoshoot accidentally catches a charming mother-son moment, I doubt it was the look this budding bodybuilder was looking for – thankfully Apple’s ‘Clean Up’ feature is there to save the day.
Snoop Dogg - Last Dance with Mary Jane
Chosen by Addison Capper, managing editor, Americas
Snoop Dogg marked the most important date on his calendar with the debut of a mind-bending music video for his new single, 'Last Dance with Mary Jane'. Launched on 4/20, the film is a visual ride that blends handcrafted art and generative AI technology courtesy of Psyop, studio partner Temple Caché and director Dave Meyers.
Part auto-biography, part social statement, the video follows Snoop through dreamlike versions of his life and legacy before ending the video back in the doctor’s office with a blunt decision.
From the start, the production team knew they didn’t want a music video that relied solely on any single technique. So, they worked to blend live action, AI, and a wide range of handcrafted animation styles – 2D, 3D, collage and motion design.
Virgin Atlantic - Dive Into Life
Chosen by Paul Monan, awards director
When I first saw this - as an image in a news story on a laptop screen from across the room - I immediately saw the plane. I immediately felt a yearning to be somewhere hot, far from home, ideally next to (or in) a pool.
But I was in the office. So I took a closer look at the latest out of home offering from Virgin Atlantic from the team at Lucky Generals. A simple, striking visual. Little, if any, copy.
Just a woman, wearing the brand's iconic shade of red, immersed in a cloudy, wavy hybrid of sky and sea.
Pure iconography.
The Awakening Foundation - Unfreeze My Rights
Chosen by Sunna Coleman, Asia reporter
Launched on Mother’s Day, 'Unfreeze My Rights' by Dentsu Taiwan and The Awakening Foundation highlighted a shocking little-known law requiring women to obtain their husband's consent to access their own frozen eggs.
Through a bold street performance in Taipei's Xinyi District, where a woman publicly requested marriage without strings solely to gain reproductive rights, the campaign exposed the absurdity of this legal barrier. The performance went viral, garnering over 50 million impressions and prompting more than 13,000 petition signatures within three days. Taiwan's Ministry of Health and Welfare followed by issuing a draft amendment to allow single individuals and same-sex couples to use their frozen eggs.
The campaign won the Grand Prix, three Golds, seven Silvers, and four Bronzes at Taiwan’s 4A Awards, the Times Advertising Awards, and the Singular Awards. It has also been shortlisted at The One Show, Spikes Asia, Clio and global ANDYs.
Zoo de Granby - Blink of an Eye
Chosen by Zhenya Tsenzharyk, UK editor
Zoo de Granby, in collaboration with LG2, opted for an unusual method to raise awareness of the zoo’s Mission Faune foundation, which aims to protect and preserve the world’s biodiversity. A campaign that’s an interactive exhibit weaving together art, technology, and advertising with the help of artist Lysanne Latulippe, who created the tapestries portraying the endangered jaguar, lemur, and turtle species.
The works on display were woven out of wool, a fibre with status similar to that of the animals the tapestries depict: natural, renewable, and vulnerable. Titled ‘In the blink of an eye’, the exhibition used technology to sense when someone was looking at the tapestry and translate the movement of eyes closing to unravel the work in front of them, slowly destroying it. An impressive feat of art and technology, the exhibition is a powerfully direct metaphor too, illustrative of human impact on the natural world.
The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development - Sound Sites
Chosen by Alex Reeves, managing editor, EMEA
For those of us with our full sight, flipping through a series of gorgeous images on a tourism website helps us to feel the yearning for travel that the tourism industry requires from us. But for blind and visually-impaired people, the audio descriptions of those images are usually bland and sometimes outright wrong. Thankfully VML and The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development have demonstrated how much more evocative audio description can be. Partnering with Tennessee’s wealth of musical talent, they have re-written standard image descriptions of beautiful scenes in The Big Bend State as song lyrics that make you long to visit, whether you can see the images or not. This is a crucial stepping stone in accessibility that goes beyond function and into inspiring new territory.
Global Compact Country Network Brazil - Earth’s Burnout
Chosen by Olivia Atkins, EMEA news editor
It’s rare that a campaign can offer a creative and practical signpost toward hope and collective action, and yet Earth’s Burnout does just that. Launched by the UN’s Global Compact Network Brazil and crafted by AlmapBBDO, the campaign personifies the planet as a burnout patient – diagnosed with stress, insomnia and weakened immunity – to illustrate the toll of environmental exploitation. Urging companies to join the Global Compact and adopt sustainable practices in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, this campaign is more than just a metaphor – it’s a rallying cry for corporate accountability at a time when climate data often leads to paralysis rather than progress. Earth’s Burnout offers a tangible way to engage and helps turn climate anxiety into purpose, reframing urgency as opportunity and reminding us that giving the planet a break is not just possible but imperative.
Toyota - 'Green Man'
Chosen by Abi Lightfoot, Americas reporter
Demystifying cinema’s special effects, Toyota’s tribute to the man in the morph suit finally gives the humble ‘Green Man’ his moment of stardom. Recognising the usually unseen Green Man’s contributions to film, TV and even social media trends, this spot drives home the importance of leaving no trace on the environment by linking the anonymous figure with the Toyota bZ4X’s commitment to sustainability.
Created for Toyota of Hollywood by agency Conill and production company Not Normal, the work, directed by Ari Evasio, seamlessly connects Hollywood’s film heritage with an innovative, humorous take on environmental awareness. And it works so, so well.
