Newsletter
A German State Recruits Space Aliens for Its Labor Force
Plus: Rappers M87, BK and more great work from Europe
Our European ad of the week hails from the German state of Baden-Württemberg, which has a skilled labor shortage. To demonstrate how good a place it is to work, and with help from WPP’s thjnk, the region created the (overly?) ambitious “Land Here”—an invitation to everyone, including extraterrestrials, to touch down on the Bad side of the planet (sorry, couldn’t help it). To this end, they also created a landing strip for space shuttles. We’ll see if some distant traveler takes the bait.
Say what you want about the democratic project; one thing it’s offered us is an abundance of choices. To illustrate how important choices are, Burger King in Austria and Jung von Matt Donau spent a day selling just one item: the Whopper. “Having a choice matters,” the campaign proclaims. (We’d qualify that by saying meaningful options matter more.)
To celebrate Cinnamon Bun Day (Oct. 4) in Sweden, convenience store chain Prezzburoni paired up with Åkestam Holst NoA to punt buns in the most extravagant way possible. To this end, the brand revisited a whole universe of ’80s-coded Italian glam brands, like Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino and Roberto Cavalli. It even used old-school gear to shoot everything.
“We ignored the fact that Swedish cinnamon buns have nothing in common with 80’s Italian fashion. As a matter of fact, we embraced it. The idea was to sell something cheap in the most expensive way possible,” says Daniel Vaccino, creative director at Åkestam Holst. Check out the made-up record company, hear the track “Bullatella Cannelle,” and see the over-the-top video below.
Music videos are dead! But apparently TV commercials aren’t? While we can’t speak to this logic, “mysterious” French rappers M87 are hyping their first single using the latter. The ad is a creative collab with rapper Guy2Bezbar and agency Dat-Way, co-founded by Rémi Campet (formerly BETC) and Charles Moukouri-Bell (formerly Universal Music). The ambition is to market M87 through traditional advertising channels and transform how music is promoted forever. The ad features a woman getting infectiously earwormed by the track, to the chagrin of literally everyone around her.
We’ll wrap with some bundles of joy and more Burger King. A survey by Mumsnet reported that the first meal a mom eats after giving birth is the most delightful thing in the universe. So, for one day, BBH London offered fresh mamas the most common post-birth indulgence: burgers and fries. We give you “Bundles of Joy.”
Congrats, new parents. That may be the last uninterrupted meal you eat for a year.
Angela Natividad is the European markets editor at Muse by Clio. She also writes about gaming and fashion, and whatever else she’s interested in, really. She’s based in Paris and North Italy, so if you’re local, say hi. She might eat all your food.
