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Klarna

Good morning, hope you had a nice weekend. Today we have our Breakout Brands package, as well as our weekly Top 5 creative campaigns. Also check out the world’s lightest whiskey bottle, as Klarna’s new endorsement deal with Shaq.

—Tim Nudd

-196: Japan’s No. 1 vodka seltzer arrives in the U.S. with a madcap marketing campaign from Johannes Leonardo.

Angi: The internet may be a magical place, but it’s a difficult one for finding reliable home repair work, says this campaign from Bandits & Friends.

Apple Intelligence: Bella Ramsey stars in three spots advertising the much-anticipated AI system on iPhone. The ads use humor to make the use cases for the tech more approachable.

Assante Hydrostone: Mac and PC from the old Apple ads are still working in this comic campaign about financial planning.

Aviation Gin: Ryan Reynolds celebrates Negroni Week by bantering with Tony O’Groni, an early Halloween visitor.

Breakout Brands: Ad Age’s 2024 Breakout Brands package is here, recognizing 10 individuals who are driving the marketing success of up-and-coming brands. And for the first time, Breakout Brands is honoring standout work as well as people.

Clorox: The company is embarking on a rigorous campaign to win back picky cats and their owners after a hack last year halted production at U.S. factories and led to shortages of its popular Fresh Step litters.

F&F: The new Tesco’s-own clothing brand launched a campaign by BBH London to promote its Autumn/Winter 2024 collection. Titled “Gail Force,” the 30-second spot showcasing the versatility of the collection, highlighting how clothes adapt to unpredictable autumn weather. 

Johnnie Walker: The whisky brand unveiled what it believes to be the world’s lightest Scotch Whisky glass bottle ever released to market—Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ultra, weighing 180g without the stopper.

Klarna: The AI-powered global payments network and shopping assistant unveiled a partnership with Shaquille O’Neal called the “Shaquille O’Deal” campaign (see above), highlighting cashback features and exclusive deals.

Montefiore Einstein: The hospital network and agency Alto recruited a pair known for their storytelling chops—actor Paul Giamatti and director Alexander Payne—to create a short film about a New Yorker battling lung disease.

Top 5: A simple outdoor campaign for ice cream tops this week’s Top 5 creative campaigns. See the full list here.

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GS25

Good morning. Today we have snacks that keep you afloat (quite literally), a fright fest from North Carolina, and a colorful music video for the New York Lottery. And yes, Mikey still likes Life cereal.

—Tim Nudd

Aeromexico: The airline celebrates 90 years in aviation with a new commercial that celebrates its connection to Mexican culture and its commitment to exporting it to the world. The work, from Wieden+Kennedy Mexico, highlights the ability of Mexicans to recognize and connect with each other anywhere in the world.

Bose: Buzzing musical artists Lisa (from Blackpink), Tyla, Central Cee and Don Toliver star in a new Bose campaign from agency Partners in Crime Creative. 

GS25: Cheil Worldwide and South Korean convenience store chain GS25 spent four months developing Lifeguard Snack (see above), a snack that doubles as lifesaving equipment in water. The campaign educates people that any item that floats can help save lives in an emergency.

Hellmann’s: Tennessee Titans QB Will Levis is back with another Hellmann’s campaign, this time spewing “Mayotivations”—amusing motivational statements with double meanings across food and football.

Life cereal: “Mikey Likes It” is back in a new campaign from PepsiCo’s internal agency D3.

Liquid Death x Nascar: Liquid Death iced tea is the official iced tea of Nascar. But rather than add its logo to a race car, it wants to wrap your car instead. (But be prepared to chug a tallboy on camera.)

Mazda: Japanese phrases—including jinba ittai (“Horse and rider as one”) and omotenashi (“Your happiness is my happiness)” are central to Mazda’s new ads from VML.

Movie marketing: Parker Herren has a piece on the evolution of movie marketing for the younger generation.

New York Lottery: New York Lottery and McCann New York launched a music video featuring colorful bodega storefronts for its new Grande Scratch-Off Games. 

Paramount: At the VMAs on Wednesday night, Paramount launched a “Vote ‘24” campaign in partnership with the Ad Council, encouraging people to use their voice to influence their friends, families, neighbors and peers to show up and vote. 

Tourism Ireland: Did you know Halloween started in Ireland? This creepy and clever campaign tells the history.

Visit North Carolina: The state is celebrating its haunted heritage with a campaign called “First in Fright” by agency Luquire. The work includes a digital trail that connects North Carolina’s most haunted and eerie sites, as well as an eight-episode podcast series that dives deep into North Carolina’s creepiest tales. 

Wrangler: Jake Scott visits a diner in the American West for this upbeat, nostalgic :30 set to the 1970s song “Jeans On” by David Dundas. This is Wrangler’s first-ever in-house campaign.

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Timberland

Good morning. We have a playful collection of creative stories today, from a new Lego art gallery to Paris to Goldfish crackers’ star turn at New York Fashion Week. And we’re officially saying goodbye to summer with a lovely Cornetto campaign.

—Tim Nudd

Cornetto: These beautiful collage ads combine magazine clippings with the brand’s ice cream wrappers for a nostalgic taste of summer.

Fabletics: Kevin Hart and Druski star as mafioso Godfather-like figures in a hilarious Fabletics campaign centered around its new release, The Don Pant.

Frank’s Red Hot: A new character has entered the chat in Frank’s Red Hot’s new campaign which introduces a Dean of Tailgating who demonstrates to pupils how they can level up their gameday experience with Frank’s Dip’n Squeeze sauces.

Goldfish: The cracker brand made a fashionable debut in Kate Barton’s NYFW runway show.

Lego: The toy brand opened a new immersive art gallery, Superpower Studios, in Paris that’s really a giant play space for families. Throughout September, kids will take charge of transforming the art gallery in a hands-on celebration of creativity and connection. 

Pepsi: The soda company unveiled a gritty new spot in which a blue Pepsi sports car chases pizza delivery guys around L.A., handing over Pepsi to consumers when they answer the door for the pizza.

Porsche Canada: Working with agency Angry Butterfly, Porsche measured Cayenne test drivers’ biometric data and turned it into personalized hot sauces.

Timberland: The brand launched its “Iconic” campaign Thursday, featuring creative icons Naomi Campbell, Teddy Swims, Slawn and Kai-Isaiah Jamal (see above) donning nothing but the legendary Original Yellow Boot. The campaign demonstrates the lasting power of icons, including unmistakable footwear.

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Play Hard Seltzer

Good morning, and happy debate hangover. Here’s our daily roundup of goodies, including some “sludge content” from Kraft Mac and Cheese, a visit to “Scratchy Bottom” from Pampers, and Zalando’s fun spot from W+K Amsterdam.

—Tim Nudd

AXA: Here’s a really nice short film for the French insurance company, showing the many lives a girl could lead as she dreams of her perfect future. Via Publicis Conseil and director Janssen Powers.

Calm: You know him, you love him, from The New York Times podcast “The Daily.” Now, Michael Barbaro is picking up an after-hours job—recording a Sleep Stories episode for the Calm app called “The Nightly.”

FealGood Foundation: This non-profit, which supports 9/11 first responders and their families, is replacing celeb photos at NYC pizzerias with pics of those first responders—with a website that tells their stories.

Jell-O: The brand enters the home décor space with some crazy furniture inspired by Jell-O molds.

Kraft Mac and Cheese: The brand targets zillennials and draws inspiration from the popularity of “sludge content” and ASMR videos in a new campaign from Rethink. The “So Satisfying” series mimic the hottest TikTok trends and focus on the satisfaction fans get from KD cups.

Pampers UK: The diaper brand sent singer and TV personality Olly Murs to a town called Scratchy Bottom for its latest ad from Saatchi & Saatchi and Great Guns director Ben Brand.

Play Hard Seltzer: The premium line of vodka seltzers from Playboy Spirits leans into the Playboy heritage of sexual innuendo in a campaign (see above) from Chicago agency Someoddpilot. Targeting drinking-age Gen Z and millennials, the ads are live this month across social and OOH.

Qatar Airways: The carrier is using AI to place customers in a romantic short film in this campaign from McCann.

Stonyfield: Organic yogurt brand Stonyfield is paying $1,000 to people who can stay off social media this election cycle. Stonyfield argues “toxins” exist in more than just pesticide-grown foods.

United Sense of America: Will this brutal PSA from Smuggler, American Haiku and Preacher resonate with hunters and help break the gridlock on gun legislation?

Zalando: Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam made a fun, frenetic spot for fashion brand Zalando’s Autumn/Winter ’24 campaign. “What Do I Wear?” was directed by Aube Perrie at Pulse Films.

Good morning. We have news today about this year’s Emmy winner for best commercial (a brand that’s making history by winning again). We’ve also got yet another fun collab from e.l.f. (this time in the dating world). And those paparazzi photos of Flavor Flav in recent weeks are starting to make more sense.

—Tim Nudd

Apple: Apple’s big iPhone 16 intro event happened Monday. Among the content to emerge was a snippet of The Weeknd’s new music video, shot on the Apple device, as well as a BTS video.

Brisk: Doja Cat is the latest celebrity to get Brisk’s Claymation treatment, as the beverage brand is bringing back the stop-motion animation format after 12 years to appeal to Gen Z.

Calvin Klein: Following its latest Jeremy Allen White campaign, CK unveiled new ads for fall featuring Cha Eun-Woo, the South Korean singer and actor. The star of boy band Astro was photographed by Park Jong-Ha.

Debate day: The Harris/Trump debate on Tuesday night will be a dual-screen affair, as several pro-Harris groups have created online experiences that will gamify the showdown.

Emmy winner: Apple has made history by winning the Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial for the second year in a row.

John Lewis: The U.K. retailer unveiled a refreshed set of charming idents (see above) around its campaign “The Home Dialogues,” created by Saatchi & Saatchi.

Lovesac: The furniture brand launched a satirical-sitcom campaign with apparel store KidSuper featuring vignettes in a fake living room set, a ‘90s nostalgic jingle and a comedy fashion show called “KidSuper’s Funny Business” during NYFW.

Tinder x e.l.f.: The dating app and the cosmetics brand unite for a cute collab featuring a co-branded product collection and an amusing parody of the dating scene from Mischief @ No Fixed Address.

The North Face: The outdoor retailer has a bracing new brand campaign called “We Play Different,” leaning into themes of rebellion.

Smartfood Popcorn: Flavor Flav stars in Smartfood’s new campaign, following paparazzi photos in recent weeks showing an oversized popcorn kernel on his iconic clock necklace.

Violife: The cream cheese brand is singing victory in a new election-themed campaign that claims America has voted Violife Dairy Free Cream Cheese no. 1 in the country, no debate.

Good morning and happy Monday. We’ve got some creative hiring news this morning, as well as this week’s Top 5. We’re also expecting some new Apple work later in the day from the “It’s Glowtime” event. And we’ve also got the Harris-Trump debate coming Tuesday, and we’ll be looking at a few interesting creative stunts connected to that event.

—Tim Nudd

Campaign Against Living Miserably: adam&eveDDB follows up “The Last Photo” for CALM with another stunning effort, blowing up 6,929 birthday balloons for an installation at a London mall—one for every person lost to suicide in the U.K. in the last decade.

Dunkin’: Kristen Wiig becomes the latest celeb to grace Dunkin’ advertising, playing multiple characters in an amusing long-form spot for the new Dunkalatte.

Fox Sports: The broadcaster is heralding Tom Brady’s next chapter as lead NFL analyst for the network with a two-part campaign from agency Someplace.

Gatorade: The sports drink brand questions the value of water to human hydration in an audacious, great-looking campaign from Latin America.

Google: Bob from “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” stars as an afterlife influencer navigating the real world with Google’s AI features like Lens, Circle to Search and AI overviews for the latest “New Ways to Search” campaign. 

Hallmark+: The Hallmark streaming service launches Tuesday, and Parker Herren has a look at the streamer’s debut advertising, featuring Hallmark acting royalty including Lacey Chabert and Lea Thompson.

Jägermeister: The licorice liqueur teamed up with Pantone to zero in on new brand colors, “Herbal Green” and “Culture Orange.”

Hiring news: We reported on two new chief creative officer roles this morning, one at David (a CCO North America position) and one at Oberland.

Paypal: Will Ferrell stars in Paypal’s new 60-second spot that debuts on TV tonight during “Monday Night Football” on ABC and ESPN.

Pinterest: Pinterest takes viewers on surrealist dream-like adventures through a magic carpet ride, space exploration and a giant dinner party in three new spots from its “It’s Possible” global campaign. 

Northwestern Mutual: Brandon Doerr reports on the financial services company’s use of its podcast, “A Better Way to Money,” to give consumers financial advice at a more comfortable pace.

Top 5: There was a lot of chaotic work in this week’s Top 5 campaigns, but our pick for No. 1 broke through with its quieter moments.

Hello and happy Friday. If you’re into dudes emerging from oily holes to defend fossil fuels, complete with ludicrous, fiery dancing, you’re in luck because we have just the spot for you—courtesy of activist org Fund Your Mother. Also, John Cena headlines a wacky collab between Supercell’s “Brawl Stars” mobile game and “SpongeBob SquarePants.” See those campaigns and more in our Friday roundup below.

—Tim Nudd

Best Buy: The electronic retailer has teamed up with NBCUniversal for two spots timed to NFL season. They feature a “spokeshologram” named Gram who banters with Mike Tirico, Maria Taylor and Chris Simms about having the right tech for football watching.

BMW: In a new Goodby Silverstein & Partners campaign, BMW becomes the first automaker to advertise on Bumble. In the spots, it’s unclear whether couples and groups of friends are talking about their car or their partner.

DoorDash: Bill Belichick may no longer be an NFL coach, but he still has wisdom to impart—outside of football. As DoorDash’s crusty new “Fan Coach,” he advises ordinary football watchers on their gameday prep in ads from Superette, DoorDash’s in-house agency.

ESPN Bet: The sportsbook of ESPN, has a new spot out with Stephen A. Smith, seen at his local deli, where he debates the deli owner and other customers about the recipe for success in football.

Fund Your Mother: The Swedish climate collective unveiled a bonkers new spot (above) directed by Tomas Jonsgården in which actor David Dencik emerges from an oily hole in the ground to defend fossil fuels. The film aims to get AP7, Sweden's largest pension fund, to blacklist all fossil fuel companies.

Visit Las Vegas: A new tourism spot from R&R Partners has a message for Las Vegas visitors: “Whatever you go for, go all out.”

Nationwide: There’s more to Peyton Manning than just football. And there’s more to Nationwide as well in the company’s lighthearted new commercial from Ogilvy.

Nike Running: Ads about running built the Nike brand more than four decades ago, and here’s the latest campaign—the first of four new spots from Wieden+Kennedy and directors Megaforce just broke, saluting runners who get out there in any conditions.

Progressive: The insurance company has teamed up with NFL players who don’t always get a moment in the spotlight—backup quarterbacks—in spots from Arnold Worldwide. The QBs are Josh Dobbs, Jacoby Brissett, Case Keenum and Colt McCoy.

Supercell: John Cena stars in a 90-second commercial for the Supercell game “Brawl Stars” announcing a SpongeBob SquarePants takeover inside the game. Agency David handled the creative.

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Tubi

Good morning. It’s always a good day when we get a new Tubi campaign, and this one doesn’t disappoint—with the streaming service reminding viewers that it’s free for everyone, heroes and villains alike. Also today, we have the brand-new trailer for “Crois Pas Qu’on Dort,” a Nike-backed sports doc five years in the making, and a Hitachi spot that parodies action blockbusters. See the full roundup below.

—Tim Nudd

Pepsi: Pepsi today released its second take on “We Will Rock You,” which it first modernized behind the trio of Britney Spears, Beyoncé and Pink in 2004. This time, the Queen classic is interpreted by Megan Thee Stallion and accompanies a three-minute video promoting both the forthcoming movie “Gladiator II” and the NFL.

Tubi: A new Tubi campaign from Mischief @ No Fixed Address emphasizes that the streaming service is free, something only 62% of people who are aware of Tubi realized. Two great 30-second spots, directed by Tom Kuntz, show how Tubi really is free for everyone—fine, upstanding folks as well as utter ne’er-do-wells.

The Farmer’s Dog: A year and a half after its Emmy-winning Super Bowl commercial, The Farmer’s Dog returns to evocative narrative storytelling with an in-house spot directed by John Hillcoat that tells the story of an NFL referee seeking solace after blowing a call in a game.

Nike: The trailer is out for “Crois Pas Qu’on Dort” (“Don’t Think We’re Sleeping”), a 90-minute French language film, supported by Nike, that tells the stories of three young French athletes in the lead-up to the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The athletes were followed by a film crew over the course of five years. The project was spearheaded by Pi Studios, the production arm of Amsterdam-based agency We Are Pi.

Hitachi: This entertaining spoof of blockbuster films, from agency Mamapöol and Park Village director Cameron Harris, spotlights Hitachi as a leader in sustainable technology by eschewing explosions and car chases for sustainable solutions.

Top NFL ads: Jon Springer rounds up five NFL campaigns for the new season, including Pepsi’s fresh take, that look ready for kickoff.

—Tim Nudd