Every week I attempt to curate a collection of clutter-breaking creative ads. In this week’s compilation of advertising: a flight safety video from TUI, a fun TVC for a flavoured bottle drink and more.

TUI: flight safety video

I think it was Air New Zealand which was among the pioneers to create ‘out of the box’ flight safety videos. There have been many interesting ones since then, including a recent one from Air India. Travel brand TUI has released a film advocating flight safety. The film is a spoof of sorts on various genres of feature films – thriller, adventure and even Bollywood.

Agency: Leo Burnett

Lahori Zeera: everyone’s drinking it

Sometimes, advertising feels like magic. Here’s a flavoured bottle drink with pretty much nothing to say in terms of product differentiation. ‘Desi’ flavours are at the core of the brand but in India that’s to be expected. A new TVC weaves magic by way of creating a memorable visual idea of folks carrying on about their regular work drinking Lahori Zeera. Nothing more is spelt out in terms of taste or flavour – the audience just gets it. The combination of a quirky jingle and interesting choices of situations makes it a riveting watch.

It also made me ask myself: ‘whatever happened to taglines?’

I don’t watch much of TV. My new ad campaign info comes from social media, ad portals, YouTube and streaming services. I feel the ad industry doesn’t invest behind ownable properties for brands – especially taglines. Can’t remember any new ones. I guess that’s replaced with the hashtag madness. No ad seems to be complete without a random (often hard to decipher) hashtag. And there’s an urge to try new things all the time, including moment marketing – hence it all feels like a series of tactical ads through the year, without a single ‘thematic’ campaign.

Good taglines have the knack of summing up the brand proposition, the promise. Taglines create a powerful memory hook, aiding recall. When used with the brand name, it is unique – no fear of mis-attribution. What’s not to like?

Agency: Enormous

Gopuff: Bring the magic

Brands which started of as food delivery as a service (such as Uber Eats) now go to great lengths to say that they deliver everything – from your groceries to stationery. Gopuff – another player in the same category goes against category codes to deliver a dreamy, graphics driven ad to drive home a similar message.

Agency: Mother, New York

British Airways: take your holidays seriously

I would rank the ‘take your holidays seriously’ effort for British Airways even higher than their ‘A British Original‘ thematic campaign. Both the approaches aim to create preference for British Airways. In ‘take your holidays seriously’ I feel they have a sharper idea. Yes, it could benefit any travel brand but it cues a leadership stance, genuinely caring for customers.

Agency: Uncommon Creative Studio

Liquid Death: soda marketing is BS

When your selling water and other ‘regular’ beverages, it’s how you package them (not in the literal sense) that matters. Liquid Death has done a stupendous job in creating affinity – borrowing a leaf or two from the promotion playbook of alcohol brands. Their latest effort takes on soda brands (fizzy carbonated drinks) by getting models to ‘endorse’ them only to have them confess on camera that they don’t consume such drinks in real life.

Pop-Tarts: Unfrosted

I am not very familiar with American entertainment content but found this film from Pop-Tarts to be engaging and anchored on a solid creative idea. ‘You used our characters in the show without permission, so will do the same to you’ is a bold and funny premise.

Delivereasy: billboard

“Creativity is the last unfair advantage we’re legally allowed to take over our competitors” is a quote attributed to Bill Bernbach (I think). An outdoor creative for Delivereasy is proof of that as the (seemingly) honest creative is charming – likely to bring a smile on to the reader’s face. Subliminally it builds affinity for the brand and brings it into the consideration set for the category.

Agency: Colenso BBDO

Samsung Flip: ‘Think Different’

‘Think Different’ is a popular campaign strongly associated with Apple, even though it debuted in 1997. A billboard campaign for Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 literally flips the idea for itself – cueing that the form factor stands out in a ‘sea of sameness’. The font used for ‘different’ is also the same one used by Apple for the Think Different campaign. Would the general public get the connection? Or is this appealing to advertising insiders only?

Agency: DDB Group Aotearoa

Apple: find your friends

One good thing about advertising from Apple (among many) is that it is almost always focused on the product (or service) and its benefit. I don’t recall the brand taking on some lofty cause or trying to be preachy. The story is focused on what the feature is presenting what it does (and an implied benefit) clearly. A new ad dramatises the benefit of ‘Find your friends’ through an unusual, visually intriguing story.

Which one was your favourite? Do comment in.