Work of the Week: 31/07/26
Busch Canada – Baleboards
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Chosen by Alex Reeves, managing editor, EMEA
I love a media innovation. Anything is media if you have the right idea. And for Citizen Relations Canada and Busch, hay bales are just the right media.
The message here fits the medium perfectly. Without barley farmers, Busch can’t make its beer. Redesigning a can to celebrate that agricultural wonder and then wrapping that design around bales in the fields of farmers who grow the barley created a form of advertising that’s nicely satisfying. I’m not sure how much footfall these ‘Baleboards’ will get, but the conceit is a great focal point for a broader integrated campaign. Happy harvest season, beer-lovers.
Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission – Honour the Promise
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Chosen by Cathy Meyer-Funnell, EMEA reporter
This powerful and moving campaign highlights the tragic and shockingly widespread persistence of abuse that children and vulnerable adults suffered in several care homes across New Zealand from 1950 to 1999. The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care’s Whanaketia report confirmed there have been over 200,000 victims, yet in two years, a fraction of the 233 recommendations have been acted on, despite the country’s leadership promising to follow through on every single one in their national apology.
This is where the New Zealand Human Rights Commission and creative agency Daylight came in. Care abuse survivors and the Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission brought a bouquet of flowers through the nation’s capital, Wellington, to deliver to the steps of Parliament, with each bloom gathered from nine separate sites, including those where the abuse took place. The symbolism of new life and beauty flourishing in the locations where these horrors took place is both poignant and hopeful, and represents a peaceful yet meaningful call for change. The campaign is also supported by OOH assets and a film made alongside survivors.
BMW – Get Even With Corners
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Chosen by Zara Góralczyk, writer, editorial strategy
The brand reveal comes as a surprise in the last 15 seconds of this ad. Created by Serviceplan Middle East and directed by Nalle Sjöblad through DejaVu Productions, it’s introduced as a case against vicious everyday villains… corners. Wonderfully over the top, it’s eerie, noir, and cinematic, with a jaunty soundtrack that’s just as menacing. Equal parts relatable – I see myself in certain scenes, betrayed by yet another angular piece of furniture, doubling over in agony before dropping to the floor – and surreal, with shots of a black snake slithering up the edge of a pillar, and even a game of whack-a-toe. No body part is shown mercy.
An unsettling version of ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’ then gets interrupted by the revving of an engine – a car showing the corners of a race track who’s boss, and an invitation: ‘Get Even With Corners’. It’s promoting a track experience in the BMW M.
That’s one unexpected angle I can enjoy.
easyJet and Life360 – Teddy Trackers
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Chosen by Sunna Coleman, Asia reporter
My two-year-old has a precious toy bunny called ‘Bunny’, so when I came across this research from easyJet and easyJet holidays stating that stuffed bunnies are the most commonly lost toy while on holiday, I felt dread. We have an upcoming holiday, and she will insist on Bunny coming with us – if we lose him, we’re in big trouble.
To combat this very real fear, the airline has partnered with family safety app Life360 to create 'Teddy Trackers', giving parents the ability to easily locate lost toys and reunite their little ones with their lifelines. If I had one of these, not only would I not have to pack backup teddies, but I would travel in greater peace, knowing Bunny will let me know where he is if he goes walkies. The free trackers are available to collect from bag drops this summer for customers flying from London Gatwick, London Luton, Manchester, Edinburgh and Belfast. If only we were flying easyJet…
DoorDash Canada – Not That Dramatic
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Chosen by Jordan Won Neufeldt, Canada reporter
This campaign by Wieden+Kennedy Toronto is ridiculous… in the best way possible. No, this isn’t the first time a brand has leaned into period drama tropes, but the choice to use the genre’s inherent turmoil to make fun of those who struggle with the decision of ordering delivery? Hilarious!
Visually, Radke director Steve Ayson has done a great job across the spots, bringing both an 1800s forbidden romance and ‘70s train station to life in vivid fashion. But for me, I just love the relatability of the insight. In an era where eating out can be expensive – and often feels like a guilty pleasure – taking this opportunity to promote the cost benefits of the DashPass programme while demonstrating that the debate really isn’t that deep just works on a fundamental level!
USAA – The National Military Monument
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Chosen by Addison Capper, managing editor, Americas
The United States has a deep relationship with its military veterans, yet no single historical record has ever captured every American who has served. As part of its activities marking America's 250th anniversary, military-focused financial services company USAA set out to change that.
In collaboration with Razorfish, it has built 'The National Military Monument', a large-scale digital installation right at the steps of the iconic Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. Produced by m ss ng p eces, it combines traditional monument design with digital technology, using towering double-sided flags fitted with screens that display the names of servicemembers assembled from military and public records spanning 250 years. The ambition, Razorfish told me, was to create something that could "pay tribute on a larger scale" while still feeling deeply "intimate and personal".
Degree Deodorant – Sweat Central
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Chosen by Zhenya Tsenzharyk, managing editor, editorial strategy
Public transport in the summer is no picnic. As someone who gets the London Underground multiple times a week, lack of generous deodorant use can turn a tolerable ride into an unbearable one. The proliferation of natural deodorant doesn’t help because (I’m yet to be proven wrong) it doesn’t really work.
I hear conditions are no different on the New York subway, and Degree Deodorant, in collaboration with the MTA, leaned into it by renaming a few iconic stations to what it feels like there in peak heat. ‘Sweat Central’, ‘Molten Core’, ‘Boiler Room’. And to encourage liberal deodorant use, MTA co-branded sticks were handed out, giving people protection from sweat and free subway rides. Fun!
UPDATE – Kim Does Work
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Chosen by Laura Swinton Gupta, editor-in-chief
Sweetie. I would not count myself as a fan of Kim Kardashian, but this film for energy drink UPDATE is the best use of a celebrity that I’ve seen in a while. It leans into what could be seen as weaknesses – vacant gaze and affectless, flat drawl – for an endearingly self-aware piece of deadpan comedy.
Developed by OBB BOLDED and directed by Daniel Sachon, the spot sees Kim reveal the drink as the reason that she ‘gets work done’. It’s peppered with deadly little lines, including a dig at Kim’s infamous failure of the California bar exam.
Hector’s Deli - Even Better In Real Life
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Chosen by Paul Monan, head of creative excellence
There's a very good chance that you're reading this on your phone, which is ironic, as this film – for Hector's Deli by Scoundrel's Lucy Knox – calls out the absurdity of experiencing everything through a phone screen. Across two-and-a-half-minutes, we're treated to a deliciously dry, absurdly awkward first date between Nora and Chris (who doesn't look like the clean-cut version on his dating profile). As Nora grapples with the difference between his online photos and real-life look, so too does Chris over his sandwich, despairing at what he's presented with in person to what the sandwich looks like online. It’s a slow-paced, off-beat delight that challenges us to ditch the phone and enjoy real life.
Sealord – We Love Fish
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Chosen by Tom Loudon, AUNZ reporter
Loving fish "isn't really optional" for a country surrounded by them. New Zealand, a nation that cannot walk more than 130 kilometres in any direction without hitting the ocean, should, by all logic, be the most fish-confident country on Earth.
Yet somehow, shame has taken hold: fish is too smelly for the office, too messy for the kitchen, and eating frozen fish is somehow cheating.
Directed by The Sweetshop's Damien Shatford, the spot launching the platform follows a weathered skipper tracking down 'fishame' in the wild: a man pocketing an open tuna tin on a bus, a woman hiding inside an air conditioning unit after reheating fish in the office microwave, a kid interrogating his hoki fillet.
His rousing solution: hold that fish high and proud, for all to see.
Warmth and absurdity at once make ‘fish shame’ feel both ridiculous and universal. In giving the phenomenon a name, Sealord owns the problem before solving it, turning a perceived barrier into a reason to choose the brand.
