Disability Advocacy, Sexy Breast Cancer and Abstract Car Ads

It’s a big week for nonprofits and, weirdly, cars. But mostly nonprofits.

“Betrayed … by my own tits.” We feel that; amongst the scariest aspects of mortality are the moments our bodies turn “against” us. But we were totally unprepared for how this ends! “Ava’s Film” (below) kicks off GIRLSvsCANCER’s latest campaign, our European fave of the week.

Created by BBH, it puts the breast cancer narrative in three women’s hands. Half of us will get cancer. But we’ll still want to feel sensual. We’ll still want to love and pleasure our bodies. We’ll still want to be … feeling ourselves. (Spoiler alert.) Also see “Liz’s Film” and “Laura’s Film”—which close with the campaign tagline: “Cancer won’t be the last thing that fucks me.” Get it, girl. (The work also reminds us of this Robert Hass short story/poem, which is haunting.)

For a mesmerizing minute, LADAPT’s “A World Without Limits” by BETC Paris renews our sense of wonder about where technology could take us. (Maybe someday we will chomp a mammoth meatball.) But it grinds down with a question that borders on the (rightfully) ridiculous: With all this pie-in-the-sky rhetoric, why’s it still “complicated” to hire disabled people? One in three companies still haven’t. This precedes European Disability Employment Week, which runs from Nov. 20-26.

In Belgium, Hungry Minds made a deceptively simple ad about cybercrime that also manages to be pretty scary. In “A Simple Click, a Major Clack,” a dopey-looking chap taps his phone. Suddenly everything in his house starts disappearing in a telltale shimmer of digital static. It’s as if cybercriminals were poltergeists, or he was living in The Matrix. This is for Digital Wallonia, which educates people about online hygiene.

Of all the cancers, we most often forget about blood cancer, which scares us most. DKMS and Serviceplan Cologne give us #TakeTwo, a campaign about second chances. The first season introduces us to Daniel, who got leukemia at 19. Following a stem cell donation, he can now fulfill his dream of becoming a tattoo artist. Four episodes follow his journey. Ep 1’s below, but also watch 2, 3 and 4.

It’s rare we see Italian work around here, and we’re thirsty for more, but Lamborghini could do a little better than “Thunder Meets Lightning.” Made by BMF to promote the Revuelto, it features three pro driver buds in a Lambo race challenge that goes from Bologna to the Piero Taruffi Vallelunga Circuit near Rome. Mini Cooper did this better in The Italian Job.

Why settle for first class when you can upgrade to French class? Marcel literally just made that up for DS Automobiles, and if it catches on, we might die of pretentiousness. The ad features a car cruising upside-down over clouds, very Inception meets Vanilla Sky (before both movies get chaotic and scary). It’s set to a cover of “Cheek to Cheek.” This is a promo for the DS 4’s comfort options, which include great acoustics and suspension, night vision, and … wait for it … ChatGPT. (Do we even want to know why?)

In Portugal, Betclic and Shutterstock made a documentary called “Surfing Through the Odds.” It’s an effective 20-minute portrait of African girls fighting for empowerment while surfing with SOMA Surf, an NGO based in São Tomé and Príncipe. Photos of them doing their thing live in the Shutterstock image bank, making them the first Black female surfers to appear in a for-use collection of images and videos … which is nuts. (We’re not totally clear what Betclic gets out of it, besides points with Santa.)

With Innocean, Hyundai Motor U.K. made a series of Channel 4 idents that promote how the car can charge and power appliances. In this case, it chose to focus on a film projector. The ads feature the IONIQ 5 and 6 and the Kona Electric, projecting stuff from different film genres on East London streets. See “Cyber,” “Unicorn” and “Dolphin.” We hope they do another appliance, and that it’s a high-power blender. (We just miss this guy.)

Goings-on: The Polish Association of the Deaf and Group One launched UNMUTE Agency, a first-of-its-kind communications endeavor that’s dedicated to connecting brands and disabled communities. The agency’s first client is BLIK. Notably, from June 2025 onward, private European companies must comply with the EU’s European Accessibility Act, dedicated to … well, making products and services more accessible.

Ogilvy Paris is launching its third edition of Hors-Circuit, a contest in support of more DEI in the creative field. This year, it’s doing it in partnership with Instagram and nonprofit Les Déterminés. Emerging artists have until Nov. 30 to share an Instagram reel of potential projects; the winner gets full creative support. Last year, dancer, screenwriter and director Eugène Bolengu won. He’s currently producing a short film with H&O, Ogilvy Paris’ production arm.

Serviceplan Group absorbed Equmedia in Spain. It will be integrated with Mediaplus, and renamed Mediaplus Equmedia. Guess this means we have to mention that other merger: WPP is mashing up Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R. The resulting entity, VML, goes operational from Jan. 1. Jon Cook will serve as global CEO; Debbi Vandeven will be global chief creative officer.