Every week the Pluto team gather around the boardroom table to talk cool ads and interesting visual nuggets we’ve seen over the past week. The goal is to inspire each other and boost creativity as we tackle the latest briefs for our clients. So, we decided to share the love! Below are some of our top picks from this week:
Foster an Olive Tree
This week our wonderful Art Director Luz Estevan shared this incredible ‘Sponsor an Olive Tree’ initiative, happening in the small town of Oliete in the Teruel Provence of Spain. This small town has faced urban depopulation, and this project rescued a centenary olive grove which, in turn, has played a part in reversing the issue they have faced with rural exodus.
Read more about this project here
Thursday
In this day and age, part of being single is being constantly reminded that you are single by push notifications on an app. When you do manage to strike up a conversation with someone, by the time the weekend comes around, the conversation has run dry and both parties feel like they have better things to do than spend time with a stranger they met on the internet. However, in the rare case you do find the love of your life on one of these dating apps, you will inevitably be faced with the question: “How did you two meet?”.
The hot new dating app on the scene “Thursday” aims to tackle both of these problems through 1. Impromptu meet-ups on Thursdays, and 2. being able to answer that awkward question with the answer “We met on Thursday”.
Try it out for yourself (Singles only!).
Cannes Young Lions
This next project was presented to us by our Creative Director Cormac McCann and it comes from this year’s winners of the Print category of the Irish Cannes Young Lions, Emmet Heneghan and Steve Clifford from Rothco. They made a striking print campaign for Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, that addresses those in communities who best understand social issues and may have ideas for initiatives that would bring about positive change. Their powerful campaign slogan reads “The best ideas always come from the margins”. Packaged in a simple yet powerful design, the slogan is placed centre of a blank page with ideas scratched around the margins. This idea effortlessly marries simplicity and effectiveness.
Corona: Sunshine and Shade
The well-known beer “Corona” utilised the elements on their “Natural Billboard” installed in Brighton, England. The billboard was designed in such a way that it casts a shadow each evening to make the brand’s bottle appear. The build consisted of foliage on the right-hand side of the billboard with a stencil cut out that reveals the shape of a bottle. This is not the first time we have seen billboards use artificial and natural light in beautiful and creative ways but it’s the pairing with the tagline “Made From The Natural World” that gives this campaign its edge.
Dall-E-mini
If you have been scrolling on Instagram or TikTok lately, you may have noticed slightly terrifying AI-generated imagery accompanied by captions popping up in your story or news feed. The images you are seeing likely came from a text-to-image program called DALL.E mini. This is the free version of the DALL.E 2 which has the capability to generate some incredibly precise imagery based on whatever prompt you give it. The AI-models come from Google’s Imagen Software as well as OpenAI, a start-up backed by Microsoft that developed the program. Although this program is in its infancy, it will be interesting to see the implications that it has on the world of art and design.
Chilly’s: Dear Big Water
I’m sure we are all familiar with “Big Pharma” and “Big Tobacco” industries. But this week our Managing Director Cathy O’Donohoe made us aware of a campaign that calls out “Big Water.” The reusable water bottle brand, Chilly’s, have called out brands such as Evian, Highland Spring and Fiji water, asking them to ditch single-use plastic bottles for World Refill Day. The ads come from the creative agency Uncommon, in the form of an open letter that has popped up on billboards across East London – but Chilly’s did not stop here. They also designed reusable prototypes of the brands’ bottles and sent them to each company’s Headquarters in a PR stunt.
More words from Alexandra Jardine can be found on this article on AdAge
Lidl vs. Asda
On the theme of “Callout” or “Attack” Advertising, Lidl have never been shy about boasting about their low prices. This Out-Of-Home Ad from Lidl does exactly that, while also throwing some shade towards Asda and promoting their range of affordable health and beauty products. They absolutely nailed the copy for this ad by simply using the lyrics of the well-known household nursery rhyme, Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. I don’t believe there is a household across the UK and Ireland that hasn’t heard of this nursery rhyme, making it so effective.
