Time Out is a pioneering magazine published in 327 cities in 58 countries. It has long held a special status as the go-to source of inspiration on food and entertainment for both locals and visitors alike.

This insight drove the creation of our campaign, that challenges the viewers to ditch the Newsfeed and Instastories in exchange for some old friends checking out a new restaurant. And Time Out knows all the best ones.

As with all our productions for Time Out, our budget was zero. Instead we resorted to inviting Yves Callewaert (our photographer) as well as current and past workers and friends of our agency for a nice dinner. But we had some photos to take before we got to eat.

Our target is young adults, world travelling, modern and eclectic. People that like to know who's in, what's cooking and where to go for a good time. Time Out has established an impressive reputation in Portugal, even going so far as to create their own space, Time Out Market, gathering the best of the city under one roof. A concept that has since been extended to other version of the magazine in the US, UK and the UAE.

Our creative idea sought to elevate this reputation and remember viewers that Time Out is THE reference for what's what in in Lisbon and around the world. Our goal was to create a campaign that was simple, impactful and easy to grasp, whatever the language you happen to speak.

Paramount for us was creating a campaign that fit our budget. All we could afford was the food on our table. We selected two of the best restaurants in Lisbon, ordered some take out and went to work before it all got cold. In the spirit of the creative concept, this campaign features a real meal, without styling, and no paid actors, only friends.

Our execution was kept simple because our creativity lives at the boundaries of two worlds, the online and the offline. So our table needed to be a physical object, where friends mingled and told stories, but also a digital post outside of an actual space.

We launched our campaign in the beginning of 2020, just before the pandemic was declared. The initial signs were very positive, so much that other versions of Time Out in other countries decided to run the campaign themselves.

But our results are tainted by what happened over the next months. Time Out Market was closed and the magazine moved to an online version, focusing on things you would do inside the home. The zeitgeist we tried to tap into, of people slowly moving away from online interactions to truthful and real connections all but evaporated as we all came under strict lockdowns.