As plant-based eating is on the rise, Burger King has been on a drive to promote its meatless menu. Its latest campaign tries to trick meat lovers into considering alternative options by presenting them with an optical illusion. At first glance, the brand’s print and outdoor ads appear to depict real meat. Upon closer inspection,…
What comes to mind when you think of a classic? The Mona Lisa. A Beatles song. The novels of Charles Dickens. McDonald’s likely doesn’t fall into that category for most people, but an ad campaign attempts to elevate the brand into the realm of the timeless. DDB Athens created a series of ads that inserts…
A commitment to exclusivity is an essential quality of any lasting relationship. As the three-year anniversary of American Express’s acquisition of restaurant reservations platform Resy approaches this spring, the promise of exclusive access to merchants and dining patrons is at the heart of both brands’ symbiotic marketing strategy. In July 2021, Resy and Amex became…
Video assistant refereeing (VAR) has stirred controversy in soccer since many leagues have brought in the technology over the past few years. The system was implemented to make refereeing more precise and fair, but critics argue that it also disrupts the game and can result in divisive decisions. Burger King makes light of the sporting…
We’ve all had a winter’s evening where we’ve been chilled to the bone and been glad to get to our destination to enjoy some warmth. That’s the feeling that Danish brand Cocio aims to convey to Gen Z consumers as it promotes its hot chocolate drink as a social beverage, as well as an antidote…
In the world of marketing, apology ads have become a genre unto themselves. Often they strike an earnest tone, as when Samsung apologized for its combustible phones in 2016. Sometimes the atonement comes with a subtle dose of humor–KFC’s award-winning “FCK” ad after its chicken shortage is a notable example. Heinz’s latest campaign falls into…
Drinks brand Innocent is making impressive progress when it comes to sustainability, but there’s still a long way to go before we can see the positive environmental impact. “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,” is arguably one of the most successful advertising slogans ever created. Teachers, neighborhood busybodies and unimaginative politicians have been rolling out this mnemonic for…
Innocent–the Coca-Cola-owned drinks brand which claims to produce “natural, delicious drinks that do good for the planet”–has seen its animated “Little Drinks, Big Ideas” campaign banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in Britain. This could impact the future direction of its and other brand’s environmental marketing messaging as a result. The advertising campaign by…
McDonalds has begun a digital competition in the U.K. asking customers to share their stories of what they eat when they go to one of their restaurants. The marketing drive titled “My McDonalds Story’ is running through the brand’s app and emails asking users to create a story to be entered into a draw to…
A hand gently squeezing a lemon. A wooden spoon slowly stirring a glass pitcher. A family enjoying a cool beverage on a sunny day as folk music underscores the breezy scene. On any other day, you’d likely be witnessing your standard ad for a lemonade brand inspired by a kindly grandfather’s beloved recipe. Today, however,…
Imagine having the same name as a celebrity and spending your whole life being mistaken for them. It would make a good icebreaker at a party, but eventually, you’d probably grow tired of the comparison. Burger King Germany unearthed four real people who share a name with a major star. Meet Michael Jordan from Bad…
Black consumers in America are embracing veganism and vegetarianism at unprecedented rates. According to the Pew Research Center, 8% of Black people identify as vegan and another 8% say they’re vegetarian, significantly higher numbers than the 3% and 3.4%, respectively, of the general population that says they do not eat animal products. Nearly a third…
PepsiCo-owned energy drink Rockstar is to sponsor both the UEFA Champions League and Women’s UEFA Champions League as part of a three-year partnership. It’s the latest of the drink conglomerate’s brands to support the annual soccer competitions, which already involve Pepsi Max, Lays and Gatorade. Rockstar, which was acquired in 2020, will see its brand…
Welcome to Marketing Morsels, a menu of delightful news items from the past week. Enjoy the assortment! Morsel #1: Puppy Love If you’re struggling to find love on dating apps, that might be because you don’t have a dog. So get one! Or, at least, make people believe you have one. Dog food brand Jinx…
Keeping a pulse on pop culture has been a recurring theme in the marketing strategy for Taco Bell. Looking to continue that messaging, the restaurant chain made rapper Doja Cat the star of its Super Bowl 2022 ad that breaks all the rules in and outside of the commercial. These rules include embargo times, as…
A uniform slab of brutalist concrete, Coca-Cola’s word headquarters soars 29 stories into the sky from Atlanta’s downtown business district. Even with the omicron variant having scrambled many companies’ plans for employees to return to the office, the roughly 4,200 people employed by Coke can be found in and around this city–living, working and, as…
It’s hard to synthesize the look of a Mike Diva production into a neat summation. It could look like anything from a sleek, robotic dystopia for Halo Top, to a futuristic Lil Nas X music video, to a satirical, neon-piped Japanese-style Trump parody. While the subjects may change, the elements that link these works to…
The British marketing sector has welcomed the potential of a delay and potential review into the introduction of the high sugar (HFSS), salt and fat foods advertising ban that is still on course for the beginning of 2023. From 1 January, the British government is set to introduce a 9pm TV watershed and outright online…
For Valentine’s Day, Panera Bread’s new campaign is giving customers a chance to win a baguette they won’t find on the menu–a baguette-cut diamond set in a gold band. But bread isn’t totally out of the equation. The chosen recipients will receive their diamond in a bread bowl-inspired ring box alongside a year subscription to…
Potato chip brand Pringles aims to rewrite history as it explains in its latest campaigns that humans evolved simply to eat the cylindrically packaged potato snack, which features an evolution of its own. Created by Grey, the campaign introduced “Mind Popping,” the first brand positioning refresh since its “Once You Pop, You Can’t Stop” slogan…
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