Work of the Week: 27/05/2022
The world’s most creative companies have been making their usual efforts to fix the world’s ills this week. And the result has been heartening in the face of diverse horrors including the war in Ukraine, widespread censorship and high rates of suicide among construction workers. Work from Virtue, Rethink and VMLY&R London respectively did its bit to tackle those issues.
Meanwhile, other creative companies have been improving our lives by beautifying our public spaces with elegant outdoor advertising. So, if you need to go for a walk to escape the world’s ills, you might at least encounter some commercial art by Serviceplan Germany, Publicis Middle East or GUT Miami.
Check out the full campaigns below.
Margaret Atwood and Penguin Random House Fight Censorship with ‘Unburnable’ Edition of The Handmaid’s Tale
Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ became ‘unburnable’ this week, in an innovation from Penguin Random House and Canadian agency Rethink. As book banning and educational gag orders in American schools nationwide proliferate, and to raise money to support PEN America’s work to counter censorship, the book was printed using fireproof materials. It will be presented at auction by Sotheby’s New York, with proceeds going to PEN America. And the launch video featured the writing legend attempting to torch one of her own books with a flamethrower. Instantly iconic.
Chupa Chups's XXL Campaign Heads to New Ga'lick'sies
At LBB Towers we often talk about the potential that out-of-home advertising has to enhance public spaces and that’s exactly what Chupa Chups’ vibrant extra-terrestrial campaign from Serviceplan does, envisioning its lollipops as pulp sci-fi book cover-worthy planets.
Can You Decode Jeep's Call to Adventure?
In another elegant work of design, Publicis Middle East’s campaign for Jeep riffs on the car’s grille brand mark, creating a new ‘language of adventure’. Just as Morse Code is made up of a series of dots and dashes, the grille has inspired a new font that’s refined to match the exact dimensions of the dots and lines. This language features prominently in a new print and outdoor campaign that’s hard to ignore.
Popeyes Uses Long Exposure to Show What Its 12-Hour Marination Process Looks Like
Meanwhile in the US, GUT Miami has deployed long-exposure photography to colossal impact, demonstrating the 12-hour marinating process of Popeye’s chicken.
UNESCO and Blue Shield Denmark Launch Backup Ukraine Initiative to Digitally Preserve Cultural Heritage
Of course, great creativity was being used in a more serious context too this week. ‘Backup Ukraine’ is an initiative inviting civilians to digitally preserve their nation. The Danish UNESCO National Commission, Blue Shield Denmark and Polycam partnered with the agency Virtue to build an app that allows any person in Ukraine to scan and upload digital renderings of important architecture, statues and monuments.
Ford Partners with Construction Industry on a Suicide Prevention Campaign That Cannot Be Missed
In the UK, VMLY&R is working with Ford and the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity to introduce a new team of “mental health first aiders” across the country to try and combat the shockingly high suicide rate among construction workers.
