How brave does a client have to be to put the wrong product in its packaging – even for 24 hours? How brave does the agency have to be to suggest it? How wonderfully striking is the campaign idea? Jake Barrow, executive creative director, VMLY&R, has noticed all of these things and put CLM BBDO’s #SnickersGate at the top of his three best ads.
Barrow has tweaked the brief to make his three ads that wowed, Best of Europe. Here is his choice:
#SnickersGate [CLM BBDO, Paris]
It must be hard for a creative team to get the Snickers brief. Surely every idea has been thought of? This idea from CLM BBDO, in Paris, shows the stretch the Not you when you’re hungry platform has. Instead of centering a campaign around a TV ad, they simply put Bounty chocolate bars inside Snickers wrappers at the factory and released them for sale into the real world. Once the stunt was revealed, it was amplified by traditional media. Cheeky, fresh and well-integrated. Hats off to the brains behind this one.
CLM BBDO: Mars Wrigley production people put Bounty bars in Snickers packs
Medecins du Monde [Marcel, Paris]
I haven’t been able to find an English or subtitled version of this ad for Medicines du Monde (Doctors of the World). But I kind of understood it when I first watched it, even though my French starts and stops with the names of fancy cheeses. That’s part of what I love when seeing ads in other languages. When something’s good and simply executed, you can still understand them. Emotionally charged with a beautiful use of juxtaposition, this film does a great job of making me care about a charity I’ve never heard of. For the record, my French friend tells me “on s’en fout” translates to “we don’t care”.
Voice of the Wall [Heimat, Berlin]
Heimat, Berlin has created some really interesting ideas over the years and this particular one is no exception. The 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall happened recently and Heimat have done something lovely to mark the occasion. They gave it a voice. Launched with a film and a custom font, this campaign is innovative, meaningful and lets me participate. And although three decades have passed, the message couldn’t be more relevant.
