Creative Corner: School's back with Yorkshire TV, hair loss with humour and are you packing microplastics?

It’s Friday, and I’m coming to you with three playful and humorous creative picks, some tackling challenging topics with a lighter touch.

We’ve got schoolchildren showcasing their creative talent in a production takeover, comedy heavyweights taking on male hair loss and chiselled torsos sounding the environmental alarm.

School’s out… for the grown-ups.

Dougal Wilson, responsible for some of the most heart-warming ads on British TV (and last year’s Paddington in Peru), has teamed up with 4Creative to launch a charming slice of playful creativity to promote the new series of BAFTA-winning Educating Yorkshire: a trailer made entirely by the children from a series of Yorkshire schools.

In this topsy-turvy world, they’re not just in front of the camera but are equally responsible for scripting, special effects, stunts (complete with hand-painted ‘Do Not Try This at Home’ warning) and buying media.

The result heroes the magic of children’s imagination in a one-take masterpiece of junior talent, from the science labs to the playground.

The campaign is the result of 12 workshops with hundreds of pupils from Thornhill Community Academy, Lawnswood School, and Dixons Unity Academy who also worked on choreography, voiceovers, photography and more, to delight with cameos including the school band, teachers, and even some musical dinner ladies.

Giving the 400 pupils the agency to take the reigns bears a beautiful chaos that’s testament to their outstanding creativity, with a result that can’t help but make you smile. And laugh. It sort of feels like a love letter to that fearless energy you only have before you learn what ‘deadline’ means.

Losing it. And laughing about it.

Uncommon Creative Studio has yanked the comb-over clean off the issue of hair loss with Losing It, a brilliantly awkward short starring People Just Do Nothing legends Allan Mustafa and Hugo Chegwin. 

Launched alongside National Hair Loss Awareness Month, the ten-minute film plants us in a barbershop chair, under his disconcerting ringlight, for a chat that’s part banter, part therapy session- with a view to buzz the taboo from male hair loss.

There’s no sombre piano music here, and it marks a step away from Uncommon’s usual blockbuster brand campaigns. Instead, it’s fast, funny (‘Big risk, low reward- but it’s worth a try!’), and unfiltered, with a distinct awkwardness; it’s directed by Marvin Jay Alvarez of Kurupt FM and Chicken Shop Dates.

Swapping stigma for humour, Uncommon has turned a quietly stressful topic into something you can actually share, laugh about, and maybe even feel better for talking about. 

In its storytelling, real emotions and experiences shout the loudest in this intimate exchange. Great stuff.

Toxic masculinity- but make it biodegradable.

Danish NGO, Plastic Change, and Danish agency, Worth Your While, have gone straight for the groin in their latest awareness push: Are You Packing Microplastics?. 

Literally. 

The unlikely creative vehicle of a spoof fashion campaign serves up chiselled men in designer underwear, only the bulge is replaced with a very conspicuous plastic bottle to make a sobering point. 

Slogans like “4 out of 5 men are packing plastic” and “How toxic is your masculinity?” grab you first with a smirk, then hit you with the science: microplastics are turning up in our bodies, lowering fertility, and it’s just as bad as it sounds.

The campaign has been engineered to speak directly to men, following research which found that many push back on environmental campaigns because they see caring for the planet as aligning with femininity. Clearly, there is a lot of work to do here, but the campaign makes a noble effort.

It’s the polished authenticity of the images that pack a punch as well as the plastics; the campaign was shot by fashion photographer Derek Henderson, whose work has featured in the likes of Vogue and for designer heavyweights like Louis Vuitton. Hijacking the glossy, hyper-masculine aesthetic of this ilk of fashion ads employs a very clever cheekiness in the delivery of an otherwise deeply concerning message.

And, Worth Your While is bringing the issue straight to those who can make a tangible difference, as the launch has been timed to coincide with the UN Global Plastics Treaty INC-5.2 talks in Geneva, Switzerland, with features on billboards right in front of the decision-makers.

Well, that wraps up another Creative Corner!

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 or paul.lucas@fanclubpr.com with your pick.