5 Things That Caught Our Eye This Week
As life starts to have some sort of semblance to our post-Covid norm, it’s not just the weather that has been on fire this week. At We Are Star, we’ve struggled to keep to just five things that caught our eye because recently the industry really has been on fire; creating advertising and marketing material that quite frankly, is the flames emoji. With the theme of connection and the optimistic youth, marketing and advertising has definitely taken an uplifting turn and one that aims to unite, rather than divide.
From the incredibly moving piece of art in Karmarama’s Life After Lockdown story, to the nostalgic throwback of the McDonald’s 90s campaign by Leo Burnett; here’s what has injected our week with inspiration and creativity from around the industry…
1. A Big Mac for £1.69, again – Leo Burnett’s 90s Nostalgia
As the government’s temporary Eat Out To Help Out scheme is in full swing this August, prices at even the most affordable eateries (including our beloved Golden Arches) have been well and truly slashed. In a clever advertising campaign created by the masterminds at Leo Burnett, the video features McDonald’s advertising clips from the 90s overlaid with a throwback classic: NSYNC’s “I Want You Back.”
Executive Creative Director at Leo Burnett, Mark Elwood, says the film “celebrates the decades-long relationship McDonald’s has had with its customers across the nation, tapping into our desire for comfort and nostalgia.”
2. What We Do Next – Saatchi & Saatchi X Deutsche Telekom
Gen Z are swiping their way through life. All they know is phones, social media and the internet, right? Wrong. In a new initiative to change the way we perceive new world technology, Saatchi & Saatchi have delivered a wonderfully insightful piece of advertising, in the form of a two-minute film featuring a track from the renowned Billie Eilish.
Directed by Vincent Haycock, the film draws on the positives of the tech generation, an optimistic generation who have access to types of creativity that no generations had before them.
Following the disruptions caused by COVID-19, 93% of European Gen Z think that connected technology can be a useful tool for learning and education. 86% feel that it enables them to connect with online communities through shared passions. 90% say that the engagement of young people is key to building a better future, with 75% saying that social media supports them in standing up for what they believe in.
3. A Real Friend Request – BBDO tells a story with Extra Gum
In keeping with the theme of connection, which has been so important for us globally this year, BBDO’s latest advertising campaign with Extra Gum has found another way to tell a story about staying connected with loved ones and new friends. “Sometimes the smallest gestures can be the most refreshing” and as we have all been cooped up indoors with the same old faces, reconnecting with those closest to you can often be the most meaningful.
BBDO’s long-standing partnership with Extra Gum has often had the theme of sharing and unlikely friendships. Last year’s campaign featuring two strangers Max and Bill stole the hearts of thousands of viewers and showed the creativity and natural fit between agency and its client.
4. NCS Life after Lockdown Story by Karmarama
In collaboration with the National Citizen Service Trust, the incredibly talented advertising agency Karmarama has put together a superb and uplifting film, featuring Young People’s Laureate and acclaimed poet, Caleb Femi.
Using crowdsourced opinions from NCS’s network of British teenagers through social media and online questions, the piece depicts what this generation truly cares about, following research which revealed that more than two thirds of young people feel their voice is not heard in society, despite their futures being impacted the most.
“We’re all human and in this together, so I hope the world will never be the same, but better.”
5. AA Love That Feeling – Adam and Eve DDB
With the 36 degree heat this week and with fans being sold out everywhere (even those lovely Dyson air purifiers that cost around £350), we thought we’d just add one more stroke of genius in for this week because watching the AA summer ad, created by Adam and Eve DDB, has been like seeing a mirage in the desert.
The video was released as the summer campaign for Adam and Eve DDB’s long-standing client, insurance company, the AA. It’s a genius short film of a dog who loves the wind in his fur and the feeling of being on the road, and reflects Brits all over the nation this week, sitting starkers in front of a fan, unable to move. Not only is it a classic stroke of genius from Adam and Eve DDB, it’s definitely something we can all relate to this week.
Bonus Content: Reclaim Her Name – VMLY&R Rewrites Her-story
Although it’s a five things round up, we couldn’t not include VMLY&R’s brilliant Reclaim Her Name campaign this week because it’s just one example of the work coming out of VMLY&R London, that not only have they been featured two weeks in a row, but Tamryn Kerr has been creative director on both.
Novels throughout history written by women using male pseudonyms have been reissued using the authors’ real names. The collection includes George Eliot’s Middlemarch, which has now been released with the author’s real name, Mary Ann Evans. Along with Baileys, VMLY&R has created the campaign for the re-release of the 25 titles to mark the 25th anniversary of the Women’s Prize for Fiction.
