Creative Corner: Liquid Death and Spotify's eternal playlist, Sky Mobile's 'Joemance', and Channel 4's filthy fountain

This week’s Creative Corner is an absolute fever dream of a line-up: death, filth and romance.

We’ve been bestowed a marriage of music and eternal rest, a fountain of disgust to get the nation talking about the UK’s sewage crisis, and a playful take on how our phones nurture both romantic and platonic relationships.

Here are the three campaigns that stopped my scroll this week.

Spotify and Liquid Death: a playlist to die for

Just when you thought Liquid Death had reached the ceiling of death-themed marketing, it has teamed up with Spotify to release a Bluetooth-enabled funeral urn-slash-speaker that brings music to the afterlife. Supposedly (and unsurprisingly) a first-of-its-kind, it’s a functional urn that acts as a quality speaker so you can literally be the DJ at your own wake - and for eternity.

The white vessel is designed to hold your ashes while blasting a curated Spotify playlist (and is a ‘collector’s item’), with US users able to enjoy Spotify’s new ‘Eternal Playlist’ generator to create a bespoke soundtrack for their afterlife.

While it feels like a Halloween stunt, the February release is surely a twisted ‘Till death do us part’ nod to Valentine’s Day. And, to Spotify and Liquid Death’s credit, it is actually available for purchase for $495, excluding taxes.

At its core, it’s bizarre enough for cultural virality, but it also makes total sense for Liquid Death, which takes the most mundane and clinical things (like water or funeral arrangements) and makes them ‘metal’. For Spotify, it’s a clever way to insert into the conversation about legacy. Although I have to say, there’s no playlist I can listen to for a day, let alone an eternity - perhaps not for everyone.

Sky Mobile does Joemance

We spend a lot of time hand-wringing about how our phones are ruining our real-world relationships. Sky Mobile has decided to flip that narrative on its head with a playful campaign featuring two iconic Joes who appeared together on the Celebrity Traitors: comedian Joe Wilkinson and rugby legend Joe Marler.

The campaign, by Taylor Herring, is built on Sky Mobile’s research showing that digital connection (memes, voice notes, and constant check-ins) is actually keeping romance alive, and promotes the network’s perk to help us keep in contact with our nearest and dearest by allowing customers to share any unused data with family and friends on their plan.

The hero film shows the two Joes rekindling their bromance post-Traitors, through a series of dates all facilitated by the reliability of Sky’s network. The film shows the giddy duo in the thick of excitement at their flourishing friendship, checking in on each other’s hydration, indulging nicknames and naturally, messaging into the night thanks to the power of shared data.

It’s a refreshing take on the digital connection brief; instead of a glossy, emotional ad about families, Sky has leaned into the awkward, meme-heavy reality of how men actually communicate using a duo whose relationship maintains cultural kudos.

Whilst the product bridge is a bit rickety, it’s a smart bet on cultural momentum, with charm that pays off.

Channel 4 makes a public stink

I couldn't write up my favourite creative work of the week without mentioning this, given that it has popped up multiple times on every social feed I have. To promote Channel 4’s new docudrama Dirty Business, which investigates the UK’s sewage scandal, the broadcaster installed a Victorian-style fountain in the middle of London featuring statues that spewed murky water.

From a distance, it looks like a classic, elegant fountain. Get closer, and you realise it’s pumping out brown, murky water filled with "debris" (don't worry, it's synthetic), with the doubled-over subjects, based on real people impacted by the issue, watched over by a smug businessman hauling a briefcase full of cash; a literal representation of the fountain of filth being pumped into our rivers in the name of £££. The installation is surrounded by QR codes that lead passing footfall to the documentary and facts about the sewage crisis.

When you see something this much out in the wild (i.e not just in the confines of work), you know it has made a dent. It passed the pub chat test.

I love the idea of taking something which we usually recognise for civic pride and grandeur and making it viscerally disgusting; a political and environmental ‘invisible’ problem you literally can’t look away from.

That's it for this week's Creative Corner!

If you’ve seen something that’s caught your eye, or if you’ve been working on something you’re particularly proud of, please do get in touch via emily.barnes@fanclubpr.com. I’d love to hear about it.