Work of the Week: 26/06/26
Eataly – The Piazza
Chosen by Ben Conway, reporter, Americas
"Efficiency is disgusting. A carbonara has a soul... and you must give a soul what it needs!" Lines like these - performed marvellously by a cast of precocious kids - are what gives Eataly's first-ever brand film its charm.
Created by Johannes Leonardo, the seven-minute spot draws from Italy's rich culinary culture, and combines it with the nation's footballing heritage (with help from legend, and serviceable actor, Alessandro Del Piero) to turn recent sporting disappointment into a celebration of the intangibles of Italianness.
Will it fix their football team? Maybe not. But the film is joyful, and bound to make you set aside a piazza-shaped space in your heart for the country.
Castle Milk Stout – African Time
Chosen by Olivia Atkins, EMEA craft editor
This strikingly beautiful campaign for Castle Milk Stout powerfully reimagines ’African Time’, subverting a negative stereotype into a celebration of presence. By collaging over 300 photographs, Joe Public and Darling Films director Zee Ntuli contrast the frantic rush of modern life with moments of soulful stillness. The sound design mirrors this tension, distorting clunky Western strings before giving way to traditional African sounds. From this evocative craft to the intentional media placements, every element works in perfect harmony, delivering a visually stunning and deeply resonant message about savouring the present.
Kraft & Heinz – TSA Compliant Ranch & Unofficial Stadium Ketchup
Read more on 'TSA Compliant Ranch'.
Read more on 'Unofficial Stadium Ketchup'.
Chosen by Paul Monan, head of creative excellence
For the chronically online, the World Cup has been as much a feast of content as it has been of football. If you've not been following @FreddyLA7's road trip, then maybe you've seen Scotland fans (unlike the English) being joyfully embraced by Boston locals, or South Koreans binge-drinking their way around Mexico. There've been plenty of viral moments for brands to tap into, with Zeno Group capitalising on a couple of those for Kraft Heinz.
Due to sponsorship exclusivity agreements, FIFA has been pretty hot on brand restrictions. This seems to extend to condiments, with bottles being slathered in black tape to cover up brand names in stadiums. Heinz seized this opportunity to become the 'unofficial stadium ketchup', dropping a limited-edition censored bottle, as well as sauce sachets, in Canada.
Kraft also got involved in the action. With many European fans discovering Ranch dressing on their travels, TSA felt the need to remind travellers of carry-on guidelines. With regular Ranch bottles not being carry-on compliant, Kraft have created a travel-friendly kit - splitting a bottle's worth of dressing across a sheet of sachets. Two smart reactive plays from Zeno to capitalise to hijack World Cup conversation for 'unofficial' condiments.
Mostaza and Rappi – Combo Cábala
Chosen by Jordan Won Neufeldt, Canada reporter
Continuing the streak of good World Cup advertising selections, this initiative from Ogilvy Argentina – which saw local brands Mostaza and Rappi come together – is, simply put, quite fun. With match-day ritual always on the minds of football fans, the companies dug through years of historical data to track exactly what people ordered on the day that Argentina won the tournament in 2022. After that, it became a matter of sending out pop-up notifications, inviting people to recreate this sacred ‘combo cábala’ (lucky combo), but this time, with a 50% discount. Talk about a smart, simple way to tap into the moment, ignite passion, and create something nationally ownable.
Suzuki Australia – Life Is Out There
Chosen by Zara Góralczyk, writer, editorial strategy
The Pentagon releasing UFO files has brought the question of whether there’s life out there back into conversation. And in that cultural moment, Suzuki Australia and Noisy Beat have found a fresh way to debut the new Special Edition Jimny Rhino.
The campaign began weeks ago with blurry visuals of the vehicle caught in the wild teased online, but the star of the show is the reveal film. Mimicking declassified UFO files, it begins with grainy black-and-white footage of a mysterious bright spot speeding across the landscape. As it zooms in, it bursts into colour, revealing the green vehicle vibrant against a red dirt road. We tune into the ecstatic whoops of the driver, before the film answers in the affirmative: ‘Life Is Out There’, if you’re in a Jimny.
The retro visuals and the pure joy that emanates from the car are what won me over this week. It certainly aligns with Suzuki Australia’s ‘For Fun’s Sake’ tagline.
Polaroid – Go Generation 3
Chosen by Cathy Meyer-Funnell, reporter, EMEA
Polaroid’s latest OOH campaign from Exposure is a cheeky yet timely reminder of the purity of analogue versus the dominance of AI. The Coney Island billboard with the message, ‘Go jump in some water before the data centres drink it all up’ reminds beachgoers to savour the feeling of sand between their toes and embrace reality, while the message at King’s Cross, ‘What a glorious day to stare into various screens for hours on end’, offers commuters the chance to look up from their phones for once. Humour aside, AI has become so commonplace it is easy to forget the horrendous damage it causes our environment, using an average of 500ml of fresh water during a chat session of 20 to 50 queries. There are so many reasons to take a breather from our tech, which Polaroid has managed to capture with beautiful simplicity and effectiveness.
Terre d'Abeilles – A World Without Bees
Chosen by Sunna Coleman, reporter, Asia
Would you buy a kilogram of tomatoes for 178 euros? How about aubergines for 44 euros each? Sounds extortionate. But, in a campaign by Terre d’Abeilles and TBWA\Paris, this is revealed to be a potential reality if we do not protect our bees.
Stemming from recent debate regarding the use of pesticides, the one-day stunt saw a fruit and veg market sell goods at 15x the usual price. Prices were calculated using cross-referenced data from the official INRAE simulator and international scientific studies (Klein, Siopa, Turo) to reflect the true cost of food in a world without pollinators.
The campaign film is accompanied by a series of posters, together delivering the message that a world without bees is not just an environmental emergency, but a huge threat to our purchasing power.
Zillow – Someday Starts Today
Chosen by Scarlett Sherriff, reporter, EMEA
As someone under the age of 35 in London, I’m certainly not alone in having no connection to the act of hunting for a home to purchase. However, the slightly dreamlike quality of Zillow’s latest spot gave voice to the idea of aspiring for a place to call your own - which as Virginia Woolf asserted is vitally important.
Driven by the insight that “some day” has become shorthand for hope, and probably a response to nosy family members and prying elders in a lot of cases, Zillow’s spot gets realer than most estate agencies can dream of. “It wasn’t easy,” is perhaps the line that hits hardest and most truthfully - and that is precisely what makes the spot so relatable.
