Take Silliness Seriously

Pop-Tarts stood out on the crowded college football field by sacrificing its mascot to players as a post-game snack. It achieved 4bn impressions and the snack food’s highest category share of 2023. “Stupid ideas take as much rigorous attention and craft as anything else,” reflected Jeff Immel, Chief Creative Officer at Weber Shandwick, the agency behind it. ‘The First Edible Mascot’ won the Grand Prix in the 2024 Brand Experience & Activation Lions.

Anti-nausea over-the-counter medicine Dramamine created an ode to the humble sick bag it claims to have made redundant. Consisting of a museum, e-commerce platform and documentary, it lifted Dramamine’s’s Amazon sales by 26%. “This isn’t a piece that was meant to make fun of anyone,” Pedro Perez, Chief Creative Officer at FCB Chicago, told us. “The individuals, their passions and the concept of connecting those two things together brought the humour naturally.”

A blue balaclava-clad bandit fronts this film from Unilever-owned male grooming brand Lynx/Axe. But the heist is disrupted when the woman robber crumbles at the scent of the café worker’s fragrance. It’s an example of how to stand out by injecting humour into an unexpected – or even uncomfortable – scenario.

Grab united its ride-hailing and food delivery services through one insight – they both help Filipinos beat the heat. Starring a ridiculously sweaty man, it led to an all-time high of daily GrabCar rides and a 23% rise in GrabFood orders. “If it feels, smells, tastes like an ad, then it’s a bad ad,” Herbert Hernandez, Chief Creative Officer at GIGIL, told us. “We’re not competing against commercials, we’re competing against online content.”

Cat food Sheba wanted to make itself known in the US. Its answer? A sporting event where cats competed to lick up lines of gravy. The quirky tournament increased sales by 18%. It demonstrates how to hijack a popular online trend – funny cat videos – in a way that’s entirely in keeping with your brand.

Housing developer Sammakorn was tired of being mistaken for Sanpakorn, the state’s revenue department. It set the record straight with ‘Sammakorn NOT Sanpakorn’, a self-mocking film starring a tormented Sammakorn employee. The piece achieved 7.6m views and 4m engagements and an 82.6% search volume, showing how to turn a mistake into a memorable moment that humanises your brand.

Lingerie brand Sabina’s new bra range can provide comfort even in the most uncomfortable situations, according to its 90-second film. Video completion rates exceeded industry standards by 220%, with viewer requests for translations highlighting its global appeal. It also pushed up live e-commerce by 26%, showing how absurdity can unlock effectiveness.