Rebel Creamery, “Don’t Sugarcoat It: Favorite Child”
Mom doesn’t have a favorite kid? Sure she does, Darren, and you should’ve left well enough alone. Asking the question just stirred up a hornet’s nest in this starkly funny gut-punch of an ad from TDA Boulder for Rebel Creamery.
As part of an effort called “Don’t Sugarcoat It,” the spot starred a matriarch driven to dropping truth bombs by snacking on the low-sugar frosty treat. The brand was ready to push some boundaries in its marketing, with “Favorite Child” launching earlier this month as an example of the new no-BS storytelling aesthetic. With taglines such as “pickleball isn’t a sport” and “not every baby can be the cutest baby,” “Don’t Sugarcoat It” is expected to continue going forward.
Oatly, “It’s Not Chicken”
There’s no chicken or crab or mayo in these frozen dessert bars, according to ads that thoroughly and purposely messed with consumers’ heads. Oatly, a brand known for its quirky sense of humor, played with the well-worn person on the street ad trope and created commercial gold with this 2022 campaign.
The brand’s in-house creative division, the Department of Mind Control, shot the series at Americana mainstays like bingo halls, state fairs and water parks, deliberately misdirecting taste testers to get their stunned and confused reactions. The work helped launch Oatly into a new category, where it now battles against a growing cadre of better-for-you products.
Magnum, “Stick to the Original”
This guy wanted to save a few bucks at the grocery store, and it cost him everything. That sure sounds melodramatic, and that’s exactly what the Unilever brand and agency LOLA MullenLowe Madrid were going for with this “fake Magnum” idea.
A woman becomes suspicious of her partner after he brings home generic ice cream bars. If he’s lying about this, what else is he concealing, she asks herself in the spot’s voiceover. The answer: his athletic prowess, his sports victories, even his facial hair. “Like a Magnum is not a Magnum,” says the spot, which marked the brand’s first foray into humor-centric marketing since its founding in 1989.
