#ShotOniPhone ‘Midnight’, Pot Noodles and more: creative ads of the week

Every week I attempt to share a compilation of creative ads. Crafting clutter breaking advertising deserves kudos as a majority of ads are simply ignored by us. Here are a few which caught my eye this week:

Barnardo’s: feel like you belong

Sometimes, a literal expression of a popular metaphor drives home the message effectively. The phrase ‘going into a shell’ is often used to cue an introvert’s behaviour. A new ad for Barnardo’s a charity in UK, creates awareness about the need to make children feel ‘they belong’ – to ‘help children and young people feel safer, happier, healthier and more hopeful‘.

Agency: Don’t Panic

MANSCPAED: The Boys

In men’s grooming – ‘below-the-belt grooming‘ (as the campaign page refers to it) is an uncomfortable topic. A new spot for Manscaped trimmer, uses visual metaphors cleverly to drive home the benefit of using the product.

Agency: Pereira O’Dell

iPhone 15 Pro: Midnight manga

Apparently, ‘Midnight’ is a manga classic by Osamu Tezuka. A new film as part of the hugely popular ‘Shot on iPhone’ series highlight the night filming capabilities of the iPhone 15 Pro.

Agency: TBWAMedia Art Lab Tokyo

TVS: kids safety

A much needed awareness campaign urges two-wheeler riders to ensure that their kids wear a helmet too. In India it is common for car & two-wheeler drivers to have the ‘mishaps don’t happen to me, it happens to others‘ kind of an attitude. Violation of traffic rules and not following safe riding or driving practices is part of this mindset. It also leads to even responsible, law-abiding adults to neglect use of helmets for the safety of their kids. A new film from TVS takes the comparison route – asking if they would put the life of their kids in peril by not giving them relevant protective gear when needed. Simple and effective.

Agency: Lowe Lintas

Pot Noodles: slurp replaced

Earlier this year, Pot Noodles released an ad which showed a protagonist enjoying her cup by letting a loud & long slurp noise. The ad was panned on social media as users felt the noise was disgusting & uncouth. The brand has ‘listened’ and taken corrective measures by replacing the slurp noise with quirky, fun noises like the shout of ‘goooaaaal!’

Agency: adam&eveDDB




South Western Railway: Be Kind

The staff of service brands such as airlines, hotels and telecom services take the brunt of aggressive behaviour from customers. Often, the front line staff of such service brands face verbal abuse too. A new set of billboards from UK’s South Western Railway urges customers to ‘be kind’ as the thoughtless abuse can negatively and deeply impact the staff even in their life outside of work.

Agency: St Lukes

Mint Mobile: explicitly premium

Ryan Reynolds and his team have done it again. They have cast him perfectly in an ad with a creative idea relevant to a brand he owns. The premise this time: his marketing team wanted to convey ‘explicitly‘ that Mint Mobile is premium.

Which one was your favourite? Do comment in.