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Squarespace - A Tale As Old As Websites

Chosen by Ben Conway, Americas reporter

After a weeks-long build with teaser material and a short film, Squarespace rounded out its Super Bowl LIX campaign this week with a Big Game spot, starring Barry Keoghan. Created in-house and directed by Biscuit’s Steve Rogers, ‘A Tale As Old As Websites’ transports viewers to an old-timey town in rural Ireland, where the 'Saltburn' star becomes a donkey-riding delivery boy. It's not newspapers or milk, but rather laptops that he's launching at the locals, tossing the devices through windows and across fields to help kickstart businesses. 

The film contains some parallels with one of Barry Keoghan's previous works 'The Banshees of Inisherin', most notably the beautiful scenery of the Irish Atlantic coast, but there is also a familiar, slightly unsettling, tone beneath the off-kilter humour as well. I'm sure it's something to do with the music and Barry's rambling poeticisms, but it's a slightly surreal experience long before the donkey starts flying.

Uber Eats - Century of Cravings

Chosen by Alex Reeves, managing editor, EMEA

Remember when conspiracy theories were kind of fun? Sadly, too many of them these days have been proven to be true atrocities committed by the CIA and publicly available in declassified documents; either that, or they’re tied in with intricate webs of bigoted misinformation that causes actual harm. So it’s a relief to see some corporate-on-corporate violence in the conspiracy theory sphere, as Special Group USA concocts one for Uber Eats’ Super Bowl campaign. Fronted by the perfect celebrity face for it – Matthew McConaughey – the theory is that American football exists primarily to make the nation hungrier, so that they’ll order more food on a convenient app. 

Taking off my tinfoil hat and putting on my inside advertising cap, there’s something satisfying about the strategy here that hacks the Super Bowl in a new way. If enough people see this ad before the Big Game (or early on during it), it will have essentially turned every mention of a food for the rest of the football into an ad for Uber Eats. And if the campaign is to be believed, football games are flooded with food references. I’m looking forward to the award-entry case study counting them all.

Coors Light - Case of the Mondays

Chosen by Abi Lightfoot, members reporter, Americas

Coors Light is keeping it real this Super Bowl with its campaign, ‘Case of the Mondays’. Evolving from a in national press, to limited edition packaging and culminating in a 30 second sloth-filled spot during the big game, the brand shows that the inner sloth lives within us all, particularly on the Monday after the Super Bowl. 

A melée of slow motion mishaps, created by none other than agency Mischief @No Fixed Address and produced by MJZ, the spot shows the chaos that can unravel when the world moves at a faster pace than we do – thankfully a case of ‘Mondays Light’ was there to save the day.

Stella Artois- David and Dave

Chosen by Adam Bennett, features editor, Americas

Spare a thought for those of us with a more successful sibling, especially if that sibling is David Beckham – or Matt Damon. This Super Bowl effort from Stella Artois and Artists Equity (Ben Affleck’s creative studio) plays out like a buddy comedy from the 2000s. And yet for all the star power, it’s the spot’s relatability that lands the right tone for the brand. As VP and ECD Brandon Pierce told my colleague Ben Conway, Stella “has an inherent sociability when it comes to the product – it's a beer meant to be shared.” That comes through in the ad’s fundamental premise  – two estranged brothers connecting over a beer. 

Mountain Dew – Kiss From a Lime

Chosen by Zara Naseer, members reporter, EMEA

Mountain Dew Baja Blast’s Super Bowl ad is currently doing the rounds on social media, because it genuinely makes zero sense – and it’s incredible.

Seal – as a human-headed CG seal – serenades an astonished Becky G with a lime-themed rendition of his iconic hit, ‘Kiss from a Rose'. Apart from the absolute fever dream of it all, what makes it so good is how seriously it takes its unseriousness: the extensive VFX, the dramatic cinematography, the combo of the volcano and killer whale big finish, Seal’s unwavering commitment to his role… If you ask me, it’s a masterpiece.

We have Goodby Silverstein & Partners to thank for the unhinged creative idea, while Taika Waititi directed the spot via Hungry Man. Proving its CG animal expertise once again, Untold Studios handled the VFX – .

Terry Fox Foundation - ‘FINISH IT’ 

Chosen by Jordan Won Neufeldt, Canada reporter

For the non-Canadian readers among you who are not familiar with Terry Fox, I’d like to share a short story. One of the all-time greats, Terry was a man who was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 18. While he would survive this initial encounter at the cost of his leg being amputated, discovering how little money was donated to cancer research and seeing the suffering of his fellow patients motivated him to be the change he wanted to see. And so, he embarked upon ‘The Marathon of Hope’, an endeavour to run across the entire country of Canada. Starting on the East Coast, he ran 42 kilometres per day (the equivalent of one marathon), all on his prosthetic leg, for 143 days. Raising over $24.2 million CAD in the process, unfortunately, the only thing that would stop Terry’s determination was the cancer spreading to his lungs, 5,374 kilometers into the journey. While this proved fatal, ultimately, Terry’s story went on to become that of legend – something every Canadian coast to coast grows up hearing.

To this day, the Terry Fox Foundation has been carrying on Terry’s legacy, encouraging Canadians to run, and, more importantly, support cancer research. And this year, in partnership with creative agency Diamond, it's reminding everyone of the importance of this with a new brand platform titled ‘Finish It’. Directed by Scouts Honour’s Mark Zibert, the hero spot uses archival footage blended with state-of-the-art technology to depict Terry running, surrounded by many who have joined him on his quest. Set to a never-before-heard adaptation of the song ‘Courage’ by iconic Canadian band The Tragically Hip (which lost its own lead singer, Gord Downie, to brain cancer in 2017), it’s beautiful work which will undoubtedly inspire a new generation of Canadians to remember all that Terry fought for, and why we must all strive to finish what he started.

Tesco - It’s Not A Little Thing. It’s Everything.

Chosen by Zoe Antonov, reporter, EMEA

This is great. Not only because cooking brings me peace of mind that nothing else does and this ad portrays it just the way I like to imagine it, but also because it’s a good piece of work. 

From the crafty camera work that we all love seeing, to the actual idea – that inside every Tesco bag there is a simple, yet touching story to be told through food. A father coming home to cook for his family, a dinner date waiting to be whipped up on the stove, a nice yet long-overdue lunch with your oldest mates. It’s relatable, it’s nice to look at, and it’s just ‘everything’, like the tagline tells us. And indeed, for BBH and Tesco both, food does seem to take centre stage in their advertising, with this nice piece of work building on the previously majorly successful Tesco Icons. I, for one, can’t wait to see where it goes next!