🥥🌴 Kamala Harris is not yet the Democratic Party's candidate for president but her status online is already clear: She is a meme. In the latest testament to her viral presence among Gen Z, British pop sensation Charli XCX name-checked her in a weekend post that called the vice president "brat." And Harris' campaign is leaning into it.

A prostate cancer awareness campaign from Prost8 and BWA\MCR for Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, aims to spread the news about how simple it is to get tested. As the headline reminds us, "A prostate check is not what you think it is. It's just a blood test taken from your arm." Using close-up photos of what appear to be men's buttocks, upon closer look, the viewer notices the image is a man's chest and arm.

‘First Arrivals’ follows new recruits to the US Army as they leave their families and travel to basic training.  Shot in a realistic documentary-style, the ad shows several young people, women and men, of all backgrounds, anxiously embarking on their journey. Using empathy and relatability, ‘First Arrival’ promises a sense of purpose and belonging to a generation that is marked by loneliness.

The ‘Tough Love’ campaign uses humor to educate Californians on water conservation. Featuring elebrities Danny Trejo & Niecy Nash. Campaign by The Shipyard for the CA Dept of Water Resources

Takeaway: Educate through humor.

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"Adopt-a-Stray" was an in-game cat adoption event held within the video game Stray. Created by FCB Chicago for their client Fresh Step cat litter, the campaign won the 2023 Clio Gold award  due to its creativity and innovation.

Takeaway: "Branded experiences" work when they allow authentic connection and offer solutions to real-world problems.

‘The Great A-salt’  is an action-packed 90-second video that offers a fun and refreshing alternative to solely fact-based public health messaging.  Commissioned by the Ministry of Health, the campaign encourages Singaporeans to cut their salt and sodium intake with kitchen fight scenes, fast editing, and salt-filled guns.  Despite all the kookiness, the message is never lost:  This Chinese New Year, leap into the Healthier SG multiverse with the Guardian of Health!

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‘The Great A-salt,’  uses martial arts —a popular film genre in Singapore—to connect with its audience.  This strategy is effective because it entertains while delivering an important message.  It also demonstrates that eating healthfully doesn’t mean being unadventurous. In fact, cutting sodium intake might just make you a martial arts star.

How do you convince the public to cut down on sugar usage?  Create a surreal and humorous PSA called ‘Oasis’ featuring the UK superband Oasis.

Created in 2022 for the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, the ad is part of  the ‘Less Sweet, Less Disease’  awareness campaign. Its unexpected plotline and nonlinear storytelling helps it stand out from conventional public health messaging.  And its use of Oasis - a beloved band in Thailand whose music is often covered by local musicians - guarantees buzz.  Creative is by The Leo Burnett Group Thailand.

Rouen recently launched ‘Don’t Let Cigarette Butts Pollute the Seine,’  an anti-littering campaign featuring beautiful illustrations by artist Romain Lasser.  The Out-of-Home (OOH) ad shows a cigarette stubbed out on the ground, its smoke rising and morphing into a river that flows through a town. Although rooted in the aesthetic style of classic French advertising from the 1930s, its artistic visuals and clear, simple-to-understand copy also recalls the style of the US WPA posters of the same era.

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Made in partnership by the office of the Mayor of London and Ogilvy UK , “Have a Word” addresses sexist attitudes and harassment in the UK. Through storytelling and emotion,  and an appeal to conscience, the ad puts on the onus on men to stop misogynistic behavior when they see it. While a bit heavy handed, the ads succeeds by being empathetic and modeling alternative behaviors.

‘The Army of the Future’ is a 2022 recruiting campaign for the British Army conveying the message that despite all the high-tech gear of modern war the army still needs human soldiers. Like the Netflix algorithm of a twenty-year old, it taps into current fantasies and cultural currents is set in an imagined dystopian future that looks like a cross between Star Wars, Mad Max, and Call of Duty.  

The ad captures attention with its impressive CGI and live action filmmaking.  It conveys its message clearly.  However, this use of the dystopian genre points too directly to the horrors of actual war.  There is a sense of doom and foreboding that runs throughout the ad.  Not exactly emotions that drive engagement, or in this instance, recruitment.