Thrilled to announce that Sarah Chapin has been promoted to Media Director at Explore Communications! Read More

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What You Missed in the Ad World This Summer
August 8, 2019
By Sarah Chapin

 

It’s Summertime. Which means temperatures are rising and your time spent inside, buried in your phone is dropping. You’ve got mountains to climb, beaches to tan on, hamburgers to grill, and cold beers to open; we get it. You’ve been busy having fun outside instead of catching up on the latest media trends, creative campaigns, and celebrity endorsements. Believe it or not, we also like more than just media planning. We too like sipping ‘Claws lakeside and roasting s’mores fireside. However, at the end of the day when our sunburns are aching and our coolers are empty, we retreat to the fun we know and love – media. So, don’t worry, we’ve stayed tuned and are here to update you on the latest and greatest in the media world. Continue reading for some of the most creative, unique, and downright questionable news you might have missed.

Summertime Drinks

When it comes to Summertime, H20 is essential. From swimming in it to drinking it, people can’t get enough. So much so, that last year 22 billion plastic water bottles ended up in landfills. Pepsi’s Aquafina plans to make their dent in this startling statistic by selling water in a recyclable can. On top of their Aquafina efforts, Pepsi also launched an entire OOH campaign that utilizes brand creative to promote recycling and lead consumers to the closest recycling receptacle. They must know our little secret – Gen Z loves brands who care!

Speaking of what generations love…Millennials have graduated from avocado toast to charcuterie boards. Blame their good taste or blame the fact that they were basically raised on charcuterie boards (eh hem, crackers, cheese, and meat lunchable anyone?). Cheez Its has recognized this and boldly partnered with House Wine to create a Cheez It and Wine bundle, a not so subtle marketing reminder that Cheez Its are a snack for adults too.  It may be a huge success with our wine-and-cheese-loving millennials, but if that fails, at least they know some moms are happy.

Moving on to other boozy updates, Kahlua launched an against-the-grain campaign. Their new campaign will feature only Instagram photos that have received exactly zero likes. They will also bring in unusual celebrity endorsements and a creative agency for help – but their focus will be to pivot from the norm and gain attraction using the unattractive.

Speaking of against the grain, unusual ideas – French’s mustard tapped into the dessert industry with their new mustard flavored ice cream. We’re still not convinced this isn’t a twitter joke gone too far, but if sweet and savory is your thing – then hey, this might be your next flavor of the week.

For our foodies and marketers, KFC partnered with Spotify to create a public playlist that features all the songs that have mentioned the brand. Wendy’s is forced to bring back their famous spicy chicken nuggets after their brand’s twitter poll went viral; and Burger King turned a whopper into ash, and that ash into diamonds in a campaign meant to support Pride month and LGBTQ.

If you missed the ad world this summer, you’ve got a lot of catching up to do. The market is getting busier while people’s attention spans are getting smaller; forcing brands to step further and further outside of the box – and we are here for it. Stay tuned because it can only get more entertaining.

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