There’s also something that happens quite often in the creative industry: professional envy – but the good kind. It’s that moment when you see a campaign and, instead of picking it apart, you simply think, “I wish we’d come up with that.”
It’s one of the best examples of how even the least exciting topic can become a global hit. The brief wasn’t exactly thrilling: railway safety. An important issue, but one that younger audiences tend to ignore. Instead of relying on warnings, fear, or shocking imagery, McCann created an adorable animated film and an incredibly catchy song about cute little bean characters dying in ridiculously silly ways. One eats glue, another sets their hair on fire, another plays with a rattlesnake.
Only at the very end does the real message appear: standing carelessly near train tracks is just another dumb way to die.
We admire this campaign for trusting its audience. For proving that education doesn’t always have to be deadly serious.
More than 200 million views and an estimated 30% reduction in unsafe behaviour around railway tracks.
- “McWhopper” – Burger King
Some campaigns win because of their budget. Others because of outstanding execution. And then there are those that succeed thanks to one brilliantly simple idea.
Burger King publicly invited McDonald’s to create a joint burger – the McWhopper – to celebrate the International Day of Peace. It sounded absurd. Which is exactly why it worked.
Everything unfolded in public: an open letter, a genuine collaboration proposal, and an invitation to work together with its biggest competitor. McDonald’s declined. And somehow, that made things even better for Burger King.
The internet overwhelmingly sided with Burger King, praising the brand’s sense of humor and self-awareness, while McDonald’s came across as the company that simply couldn’t take the joke. The campaign generated enormous global publicity, even though the burger itself never made it onto the menu.
It’s the kind of boldness we genuinely admire.
Most brands try to stand out during the Super Bowl. Tide decided to take over every Super Bowl commercial.
The concept was brilliantly simple. Each spot began like a typical commercial for a car, beer, or insurance company. Everything looked familiar. Then someone interrupted and said, “No. It’s a Tide ad. Look at those clean clothes.”
That was it.
The clever part? After seeing the first commercial, viewers couldn’t watch any of the remaining ads the same way again. Every spotless shirt suddenly became suspicious. Was it another Tide commercial?
Rather than making just another ad, Saatchi & Saatchi New York hacked the way people watched every other commercial during the game. That’s the kind of creativity we can’t help but admire. More than 90 million views and a Grand Prix at Cannes Lions were simply the natural outcome of a brilliant idea.
What do these campaigns have in common?
Each of these brands could have taken the obvious route. Metro could have relied on fear. Burger King could have launched another outdoor campaign. Tide could have shown even whiter shirts.
Instead, all three chose the more difficult path: surprising their audience.
That’s probably why we’re a little jealous.
The difference between a good campaign and a truly great one isn’t necessarily a bigger budget. More often, it’s the ability to look at a familiar problem from an entirely different perspective.