Work of the Week: 28/08/26
The Warehouse – This Is Warehouse Country
Chosen by Addison Capper, managing editor, Americas
I was afforded two picks this week, and I have love for both for very similar reasons: they're both delicate, the opposite of heavy-handed. 'This is Warehouse Country', for Kiwi retailer The Warehouse, mentions nothing about buying stuff. Instead, this TBWA\New Zealand campaign focuses on relatable, everyday moments in New Zealand life that the brand plays some small part in - learning to drive in its car parks, sheltering from the rain under its iconic Red Bag, a warm welcome at its doors. Likewise with my other choice, it looks gorgeous. Every shot, overseen by Good Oil director Hamish Rothwell, is a slice of art, but one in particular, of a car bobbing in and out of view as it drives towards camera over a hilly road, has stuck with me most. It might not say anything about buying stuff, but it makes me wish I was in Aotearoa, could head to a Warehouse, and buy some stuff.
Apple – The Mighty Mac
Chosen by Olivia Atkins, EMEA craft editor
Apple continues to put tangible handicraft front and centre with 'The Mighty Mini', which focuses on the power of its M6 chip. Created by TBWA\Media Arts Lab and helmed by Nicos Livesey, the spot pairs cutting-edge tech with tactile art, opting for claymation to bring soul to the 5x5-inch desktop. Transforming it into a flexing bodybuilder, high-speed race car, and soaring rocket, the campaign reinforces Apple’s appreciation for craft and proves that brilliant storytelling can come in miniature packaging.
Anthropic – ÞETTA REDDAST
Chosen by Addison Capper, managing editor, Americas
‘Þetta Reddast’ works for me because it doesn’t feel like Anthropic, as the brand has not forced itself into the story. There’s a legitimate conversation about AI happening in Iceland after its Ministry of Education and Children gave hundreds of volunteer teachers access to tools as part of a national pilot scheme. This short film, directed by Jaywalk’s Gar O’Rourke and edited by Leap Year’s Nico Frank and Kauai, heads out to the public without being at all heavy-handed and brand-forward. It’s also beautifully shot and just full of small, charming moments that pleased me.
The Forbidden Pharmacy
Chosen by Cathy Meyer-Funnell, reporter, EMEA
Not a brand campaign as such, but rather a public awareness film, McCann New Zealand’s 90-second spot ‘Forbidden Pharmacy’ tells the extraordinarily emotional stories of real patients suffering from chronic conditions. Each person addresses the camera directly, looking straight into the eyes of the viewer as they explain why they cannot access life-prolonging or even potentially life-saving medication due to limited funding available from the New Zealand government. Accompanying the film are images of the drugs in locked transparent boxes, tantalisingly close yet frustratingly kept out of reach. The country is due to hold elections this November, and with several charity partners backing the film the issue will be firmly placed in the minds of the electorate. It is the humanity of this spot that makes it so powerful and affecting, as we are reminded what a difference these drugs could make not just to patients, but to their loved ones too. Its simplicity is what allows the message to really shine through.
AA Insurance – Born Ready
Chosen by Zara Góralczyk, writer, editorial strategy
It’s been a big week for McCann NZ (also behind ‘Forbidden Pharmacy’), but in this campaign, things get very small. In ‘Born Ready’ for AA Insurance, directed by Good Oil’s Joel Kefali, a toddler assumes the driver’s seat and navigates a miniature hazardous city.
Through a parent’s lens, we see how they imagine their children on the roads – swerving fallen cargo, dodging lorries, and almost driving off cliff faces. The colourful world was practically all done in-camera, adding a charming tactile quality that won over the LBB team this week. Hats off to the craftsmanship, which is shown off in the BTS film – you can find it in this exclusive interview between LBB reporter Tom Loudon, director Joel, and McCann ECD Rory McKechnie.
Channel 4 - Apocalypse
Chosen by Sunna Coleman, reporter, Asia
Directed by Biscuit Filmworks' award-winning comedy director, Florence Poppy Deary, a comical promo campaign for Channel 4's modern survival show 'Apocalypse' makes fun of how British people would act in exaggerated end-of-the-world scenarios.
From giving your hiding position away after being highly offended by an insult to being too polite to get out of a burning building first, three spots use deeply ingrained social behaviours to mock how incapable we might be when it comes to surviving an apocalypse.
Riksbyggen – Sweden’s Smallest Homes
Chosen by Jordan Won Neufeldt, Canada reporter
For whatever reason, it appears that humans often struggle to comprehend a problem if it’s not something they can see directly. Take the cost of living crises, for example. It’s felt around the world, but, in most cases, what’s actually being done about it? Sure, we all know it exists, but when you’re not the one facing it, such things feel more like nebulous concepts than lived realities which many face.
Keenly aware of this, Swedish housing developer Riksbyggen and BBDO Nordics decided to highlight how unaffordable their country is – specifically for young people – by building three full-scale homes based on what the average 25-year-old can actually afford to buy. They clock in at 1.9 square metres (Stockholm), 3.1 square metres (Gothenburg) and 4.5 square metres (Umeå) respectively. Given how absurd this looks when turned into physical reality, it sends a strong message simply by existing. However, the teams are also using this initiative to advocate for political reforms aimed at actually making it possible for more young people to buy their first home.
Don’t get me wrong, the homes all look great. And that’s the point. But they’re also inherently ridiculous, and it’s nice to see an older, wealthier generation forced to confront the fact that today’s conditions don’t make it easy for younger demographics.
Uber Hong Kong – Keep Doing What You Do
Chosen by Adam Bennett, reporter, EMEA
Spending slightly too much time waiting for a taxi is as integral to life in Hong Kong as stinky tofu and eye-watering rent. Uber’s latest campaign for the city takes that familiar frustration and asks a rather more entertaining question: what could you be doing instead?Special’s ‘Keep Doing What You Do’ centres on the few minutes between booking an Uber and its arrival, with the Cantopop singer-songwriter sensation Gareth T granted three precious minutes to finish the romantic confession that an early-arriving Uber interrupted in his hit song ‘早到的u (Your Ride Is Here)’. Naturally, things escalate. Before his car turns up, Gareth has levitated above a restaurant, sung in the rain surrounded by doves and, for reasons best enjoyed rather than interrogated, acquired a sword. Directed by Sweetshop’s Jesse James McElroy, it’s a brilliantly overblown way of selling a very simple benefit: knowing your ride is coming means the waiting time belongs to you.
Bassets – Set the Juice Loose
Chosen by Abi Lightfoot, reporter, Americas
Maynards Bassets has returned with the newest instalment of its ‘Set the Juice Loose’ campaign, and this time, Jelly Babies and Wine Gums are in danger thanks to some tactical media placement. Crafted by creative agency of record, VCCP, the campaign – which has previously utilised kitchen utensils to unleash the juice – returns a series of bespoke lift executions.
Living in shopping centres across the UK, the playful out of home sees the right-hand door of the lift feature a defenceless Jelly Baby or Wine Gum, whilst the left-hand side shows a wall of metal spikes, capable of impaling the sweet and setting its juice loose. Creating an unexpected moment of tension and bringing a sense of fun to a typically mundane method of transportation, the campaign stands out for all the right reasons.
