Work of the Week: 15/05/26
AXE – Smell Your Best When You Look Your Worst
Chosen by Alex Reeves, managing editor, EMEA
AXE’s global World Cup campaign is built on an insight that I’d personally always known but never considered: When you’re in full international football fanatic mode, you’re not at your most romantically alluring. Designed to resonate globally with minimal translation, 'Smell Your Best When You Look Your Worst' from LOLA taps into the universally recognisable rituals of football fandom, reinforcing AXE’s legacy of bold, entertaining advertising at the world’s biggest cultural moments.
That’s a solid idea, but the levels of absurdity the team at LOLA, working with absurdity specialists Lionel Goldstein, have piled onto it to make it something really special. From the Argentinian fan who has his hand enlarged out of pure love for his footballing nation, to the England supporter whose love story leaves his friends to spell out ‘GLAND’, each story is its own peculiar portrait of a nation.
It's a global campaign from an agency centred in Madrid, with Belgian directors and various executions running in targeted countries, united by a single truth. I couldn’t have predicted it, but I’m enjoying the ride.
Andrex – Push Like You’re Pooing
Chosen by Abi Lightfoot, reporter, Americas
Many things seem pretty daunting about the prospect of childbirth. For 75% of women, it’s the fear of the ‘labour poo’. Yep, the one that pops out as you’re pushing with all the strength you can muster. So, as part of its mission to help Britain ‘Get Comfortable’ with all things toileting, Andrex has launched ‘Push Like You’re Pooing’ to dismantle the stigma around the aforementioned labour poo.
Created by FCB London, the campaign marks the final piece of work from the agency for the Kimberly-Clark business before it transfers to McCann. Directed by Somesuch’s King She, the film features real pregnant women as they face their own fears of pooing, alongside top-ranked doomscroll searches and clips of real women sharing their positive experiences of giving birth - poo included.
Created in partnership with the Positive Birth Company, the film takes viewers on a fast paced, cinematic trip to the labour ward and beyond. Featuring a brief appearance from the Andrex puppy and a catchy “Push, Poo” melody, the campaign reminds women that if you ‘Push Like You’re Pooing’ you’re doing the right thing, and at the end of the day, you’ll be encountering many more poos as a new parent.
Brahma – Let Yourself Believe
Chosen by Cathy Meyer-Funnell, reporter, EMEA
I’m certainly no expert on football but even I am aware that the World Cup is just around the corner. Once the undisputed champions of the world, the Brazilian national team’s best result since their last win in 2002 was fourth place in 2014 (following a humiliating defeat at the hands of Germany which saw David Luiz openly weeping on the pitch). Bearing this in mind, it’s no wonder that the nation’s hopes for a sixth title are diminished.
Brahma hopes to change all that with its three-and-a-half-minute film from Africa Creative, with Ronaldo and Carlo Ancelotti joining the people of Rio to show that Brazil still has what it takes to captivate on the football field, simply by kicking a ball of paper through the streets. There are so many wonderful aspects to this: the samba soundtrack, the homage to the Brazilian football heyday of the '90s and '00s, and the undeniable glimmer of hope flashing in the eyes of the people of Rio. Could 2026 be the year they stage a comeback?
Air Transat – Tickets-Tickets
Chosen by Jordan Won Neufeldt, Canada reporter
I absolutely adore this campaign for so many reasons. Yes, as lovely as it has been seeing all the exciting World Cup ads of late, this work by Courage Montreal hits on a cultural truth that many of us within the Canadian soccer community are feeling.
Feasibly, courtesy of FIFA, none of us actually can afford to go to a game in person. Yes, there’ll be fan zones and fun events, but that doesn’t change the fact that our cities are going to get super congested with visitors, all while we can’t attend the event in our own backyard. Imagine growing up, dreaming of getting to see a World Cup game in person, only for it to simply not be realistic. It really sucks, to put it lightly.
So, the decision to poke fun at this truth, and use it to point out that travelling overseas – to the home of great football – is actually more cost effective, feels so, so clever. It’s great marketing from the airline, it's a fantastic incentive to actually think about travelling in the somewhat near future, and, ultimately, it can’t help but make you chuckle, even if the insight guiding it is rather bleak. Well done Courage!
adidas – Go Beyond. Play Free.
Chosen by Laura Swinton Gupta, editor-in-chief
All eyes may be on the North American hosts of the FIFA World Cup 2026, but one of the real joys is seeing how competitor countries are winding themselves up ahead of the tournament. If the adidas campaign launching the Japan kit is anything to go by, the so-called 'Samurai Blue' are hyped. Japanese players have been finding success individually in European leagues, so this is their 'Avengers Assemble' moment.
TBWA\Hakuhodo has brought together adidas with singer Ado, an artist known for portraying herself as different anime characters. They’re pitting the Japanese team against a horde of footballing fiends, in a sizzling animated music video and ad that pulls together colour, craft and a hyperactive new track. It’s properly energising. Well. I know who I’m supporting after Scotland is inevitably knocked out.
BT – Behind Brilliant Things
Chosen by Cathy Meyer-Funnell, reporter, EMEA
BT has been invisibly powering our nation behind the scenes for over 180 years now, and its new brand platform 'Behind Brilliant Things' perfectly showcases how it remains such a force for positivity.
The campaign film from Uncommon, directed by Daniel Wolfe, takes us through a day in the life of the millions of Brits who rely on BT to wake them up, keep them working and connect them to the people they love. It avoids schmaltz, instead focusing on the everyday unsung heroes of the country - the people who answer our 999 calls and detect and eliminate cyber threats, for instance, and the tech folk battling the elements all day to reconnect every corner of the UK.
The appearance of the BT Talking Clock (which I mistakenly believed was a relic from the past) is another reminder that sometimes quiet reliability and a reassuring presence can have the greatest impact. This film genuinely represents the best of British and is iconic without shouting about it - just like BT.
Canadian Blood Services – The Embrace
Chosen by Ben Conway, reporter, Americas
This latest film in the ‘Who’s Saving Who?’ platform for Canadian Blood Services is refreshingly sincere. Created by Diamond and directed by OPC Production's Nick Ball, the spot deftly avoids the many pitfalls that could so easily have resulted in a very long, very soppy two minutes. Instead, 'The Embrace' is just that - a warm, tender, sun-drenched hug that, despite having flashes of humour, commits earnestly to its visual metaphor and message without the need for a tongue-in-cheek reprieve.
Charli xcx – Rock Music
Chosen by Zhenya Tsenzharyk, managing editor, editorial strategy
It’s been a week since Charli xcx’s new music video for ‘Rock Music’, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it. Directed by Aidan Zimiri with production from Object & Animal, it knowingly walks the line between homage and pastiche, employing well-worn rock-n-roll tropes and making them distinctly Charli and, therefore, cool. (Does anyone else have that kind of cultural power right now?)
The video marks the unofficial start of the new album promotion cycle and, like with the ‘Brat’ era, all forthcoming brand tie-ins and collaborations, of which there will be many, are going to feel like a natural extension of the vibe, aesthetic and brand Charli. Case in point is the new spot for Nothing (again directed by Aidan Zamiri and produced by Object & Animal), announcing Charli as the brand ambassador in a gritty, grungy spot that further signals her sonic and visual evolution.
PETA – Go Vegan
Chosen by Tará McKerr, reporter, Americas
Veganism is a hard sell. That’s largely because there must be a pretty strong presence of cognitive dissonance for people to actively participate in the torture and consumption of a conscious being. Modern society doesn’t want to think too hard about horrors that might put it off its tea.
Over the past couple of weeks the internet has piled hard onto artist Billie Eilish for pointing out some sound logic: one cannot claim to love all animals while eating them. After sharing slaughterhouse imagery online in support of her argument, the internet was furious. Furious at Billie for showing the torture of animals rather than the fact of their torture.
This is all to say that often, PETA’s approach of showing the very real brutality and violence doesn’t work in the organisation's favour. Which is why campaigns like this one might be quite effective at recruiting listening ears. Even if it is about erections.
My colleague pointed out that this isn’t PETA’s first foray into the phallic. It’s been five years since men swung lengthy vegetables between their legs, highlighting the same point – that a plant-based diet improves sexual stamina. With production from Contrario, the three films have their tongues firmly in cheeks; provocative in all the right places.
YETI – Four Letters
Chosen by Olivia Atkins, EMEA craft editor
Amazing that a brand can build an identity around four-letter words, and yet outdoor adventure company YETI has done just that with its newly-launched 'Four Letters' campaign, made through Wieden + Kennedy Portland.
The work celebrates the many worlds the brand inhabits — from sport to travel to everyday adventure — through a series of four-letter words flashing onto the screen associated with activities, emotions and states of being. Across four films made up of archival footage sourced from YETI's ambassador community, the sharp edit keeps the minute-long spot engaging and dynamic. It's testament to the endless possibilities where YETI can fit into every adventurer's life -- and visual inspiration to book your next holiday.
Supersport – ‘Everything Can Wait’
Chosen by Scarlett Sherriff, reporter, EMEA
No time zone can stop a truly dedicated fan tuning in to the world’s most watched sport. And across the continent of Africa, over half the population is hooked to the beautiful game, not just once in a while, but regularly. However, the time zone difference can be up to 11 hours – which means that peak hours in New York can be the early hours of the morning in Addis Ababa.
This beautifully produced spot by BETC Paris shows the yawn-defying dedication of the continent’s passionate fans. Directed by South African director Jabu Nadia Newman, it is a uniquely African take on how fans will ignore everything from sleep to meetings, deadlines and family obligations for a moment of magic, where wins of dreams can happen.
OpenTable -- 'Life's Biggest Bill'
Chosen by AUNZ reporter, Lilya Murray
2045’s latest is so brilliantly simple, the type of idea that makes you think, ‘How hasn’t this been done before?’ For restaurant booking platform OpenTable, in the lead up to Mother's Day, it captured the work that goes into raising children on a restaurant bill. The total: $0. Because while you can never repay her, you can pick up the next restaurant bill.
In a shopping centre, the giant ‘BillBoard’ dangled, listing items like “reminded you to take a jumper,” “forgave you,” “let you get away with it,” and “put you first.” An accompanying film perfectly sound designed sees the audience watch the printer as the receipt slowly emerges.
The receipt ends, “You’ll never settle the bill. But you can pick up the next one this Mother’s Day.” Who knew something as transactional as a receipt could be so emotional?
