The most amusing creative campaigns of 2020
2020 has been serious.
So we could all do with a laugh, and this year - despite everything - we have seen some brilliantly conceived and executed creative work.
Over the last couple of weeks, we've looked at the 'The most talked about campaigns of 2020' and 'The most innovative creative campaigns of 2020'.
In this, our final issue for 2020, we share with you the campaigns that Creative Moment has featured that raised a wry smile. The ads that took a more light-hearted approach and the creative work that used humour for a little escapism.
In alphabetical order, we present 'The most amusing creative campaigns of 2020'.
Bud Light's cardboard cut-out beer mates
"Bud Light’s ad is built on the premise of what happens when your cut-out stand-in at the ballgame wants a beer. What a brilliant idea. It’s also the most inspiring spot I’ve seen in years.
The result is two minutes of story-telling perfection delivering great gag after great gag, all based on the same driving motivation – cardboard guys want beer."
Al Young, co-founder and CCO St Lukes, shares his thoughts on this novel approach here.
Plenty wishes us all a Messy Christmas
The ad, from AMVBBDO, has been much talked about because of its slightly uncomfortable viewing but also for its honesty and humour.
Ads for products like Plenty's have often been sterile in nature, but this? This is reality. And it's a reality with a comedic value that only real life can imitate.
No wiping up orange juice from a pristine kitchen surface. This is about baby vomit, dog pee, and cleaning up the dropped turkey from the floor. And then there's the cat's backside and tinsel-removal moment...
Plenty seems to be grabbing Plenty (yes, a cliche but it had to be done) of attention when it comes to the annual Christmas ad debate and its attempt to bring an authentic family Christmas to our screens.
'Love is Messy' and in this campaign, we can see that the grater the love, the more horrendous the mess!
And you can find the campaign details here.
Pot Noodle is still gorgeous in 2020
Not officially part of this year's crop of creative work, but this ad was revived for our Nostalgia Issue in July and reminded us all why we loved it so much back in the day.
Here's an extract from the review by Hope&Glory's Don Ferguson who chose this ad as one of his favourites.
"A bona fide cult hit, it was one of those adverts that seemed to become playground banter overnight as it transformed a once forgotten 70's fad snack into something that quickly entered the teenage lexicon. I mean, it captivated the nation.
Sitting in his grubby flatshare somewhere in deepest darkest Wales, Terry and his mate John seemed to take it upon themselves to film a series of very homemade-looking adverts centred around their visible irritation at Pot Noodle for promoting the fibre goodness of this repositioned health food.
Branding the makers of Pot Noodle liars, Terry and John unleashed an impassioned, if misguided, attack.
Calling out Golden Wonder for trying to compare it to "frilly food like leaves" before shovelling down gallons of the stuff like pigs. Portrayed in the rich tradition of classic British sitcom losers, the more they took the piss out of health freaks, the more they shined a light on quite how stupid they were.
The madness of the multi ad campaign then unleashed a range of slapstick set pieces."
Read the full review here.
The bizarre and wonderful from Droga5 and Setapp
Along with the rest of the creative planet, I loved this work from Droga5 for Setapp.
I will remember this ad.
David Kobulsz, chief creative officer at Droga5, describes the three films as a "missing person suspense thriller, a Bergmanesque psychological melodrama, and a coming-of-age film that goes off the rails." Couldn't have put it better myself.
The way the campaign marries absurd scenarios with dark humour and keeps the dangers of distraction message front of mind is brilliantly entertaining and clever.
Work that makes us stand still is clearly going to log itself in our memories, but this is work that I can watch over and over.
The dark undertones give that slight sense of unease when it begins, but the humour and vintage-style production gives it a detailed edge that really makes me just stare at it and keep hitting replay.
Full campaign info is here.
SNICKERS' Super Bowl ad. Trying to fix the world. With a SNICKERS.
Dubbed "SNICKERS Fixes the World," the new spot highlights humorous and relatable signs of a world that's clearly not itself, such as grown-ups riding scooters, devices that listen to your conversations and parents who text dirty pics.
The brand's solution is then revealed.
As a crowd gathers in song to watch, a giant SNICKERS is "fed" to the Earth in a grand attempt to 'fix' the world.
The spot ends with some evidence that SNICKERS' plan just may be working.
Amuses and raises a smile so it's on the list.
Here it is in full.
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