Creative Corner: AXA speaks up about financial abuse, Stella Artois lets it snow and Heinz goes big for superfans

This week’s Creative Corner is a class in scale.

We’ve seen the industry operate at both ends of the spectrum: from a forensic, heavy-hitting campaign tackling the dark nuances of domestic abuse and a hyper-local stunt that relies on nothing more than a record-breaking snowstorm, to a supersized vat of ketchup.

Here are the three campaigns that caught my eye this week.

AXA decodes the hidden language of financial abuse

Purpose-led work can often be accused of being too preachy, but AXA UK’s latest campaign, created with Leo UK, creates impact with forensic specificity. Titled 'What they say. What we hear', the campaign involves a series of OOH and social activations that home in on the everyday language used to mask financial abuse.

In the comms world, we talk a lot about pushing awareness, but AXA has provided actual utility here. 

It isn’t just saying financial abuse is bad and that it exists (a similarly noble cause given that the campaign is also supported with research which found that almost a quarter (24%) of UK adults wouldn’t consider a partner having financial control over their bank accounts as abuse); it’s teaching the public how to decode it, and the nuances with which it can present and mask.

But for me, the most interesting part isn’t the posters, but rather the plumbing. We’ve seen brands launch awareness campaigns and then leave the heavy lifting to the charities. Here, AXA has integrated the support into its actual business infrastructure. Supported by an MSL UK-led PR push fronted by Anna Williamson, it isn't just pointing at the problem but building pathways out of it through partnerships with Women’s Aid and Smart Works; comms-as-infrastructure. 

That’s the difference between a brand that wants to look good and one that is willing to do the work.

Stella Artois reveals a cold case for reactivity

Faced with a record-breaking snowstorm that effectively buried the country’s traditional OOH real estate, Stella Artois didn’t wait around. Instead, it treated the snow itself as a premium media format that only they could own.

This is all about sheer opportunism; most brands see a storm as a reason to "darken" their media spend, whereas Stella saw it as a blank canvas. At the York and Front intersection, the brand unveiled a giant OOH chalice and simply let nature do the rest.

As the snow fell, it collected inside the glass, perfectly mimicking the thick, white foam of an overflowing pint. 

The stunt then moved to the Fairmont Royal York hotel, where the engraved chalice was displayed, and the foam was swapped for the real deal for freezing passers-by.

It’s one of those "Oh, that’s clever" moments that stops you in your tracks because it’s so hyper-local and familiar. By letting the weather handle the art direction, Stella creates a high-impact visual that feels entirely organic to the moment, which, of course, makes it wonderfully shareable. 

A bit of brand-led levity that turns a moment of collective frustration into a smile!

Heinz goes big for superfans

Rounding out the week is Heinz, who continues to prove that it is the undisputed king of the object-as-PR play. With the Super Bowl on the horizon, Heinz leaned into the ‘more is more’ energy of American snacking by launching the ‘Kegchup’: a 1.4-gallon (just over 6 litres- no worries) ketchup keg.

This is a brilliant bit of cultural hijacking in just the right kind of bizarre packaging which makes it shareable without being too absurd (perhaps because I am very much a lover of ‘red sauce’ as my family will be pleased to hear me reference). 

Heinz has taken the symbol of a "keg party" ( a distinctly American trope, it must be said) and applied it to a condiment- leaning into the incredible appetite of its superfans. Sure, it’s a textbook example of visual PR - a product that exists primarily to be photographed, debated, and shared. But, if it ain’t broke….

Well, that wraps up another Creative Corner!

As ever, if you’re launching something that deserves a spot in Creative Corner, or have seen a campaign you just love, please do share it with us. Email emily.barnes@fanclubpr.com