2019’s Best

Digital Ads
Daniel Eckler Julian Cole
danieleckler.com planningdirty.com
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Digital Ads &
Activations
Burger King -
Whopper Detour
Burger King wanted people to download and
use their app so they offered a one-cent
Whopper.

The catch was, consumers had to take a

“Whopper Detour” to McDonalds to order it.
They successfully trolled their biggest
rival through the experiential campaign,
with consumers travelling via McDonald's
restaurants all over the country on their
way to pick up their Whopper deal.
Expensify -
Expensify This
Expensify dropped their first ever
marketing campaign and made expense
management look cool.

‘You Weren't Born to Do Expenses’ launched

with a teaser music video featuring rapper
2 Chainz and actor Adam Scott. It showcased
expensive items that viewers could win.

The follow-up was a Super Bowl ad that

explained how - viewers had to download the
app, ‘expense’ the items in the video (take
photos of the receipts) and submit them for
a chance to win.
Hulu - World
Record Egg
When @world_record_egg appeared on
Instagram, it proposed to beat the record
for most liked post.

It was just a stock photo of an egg, but

within 10 days it had amassed over 53
million likes. Hulu bought the account and
used it as a platform to highlight mental
health issues related to social media use.

The egg started to crack in subsequent

posts, finally linking to Mental Health
America and other collaborators who provide
support services to young people.
Nike - Dream
Crazy
Colin Kaepernick is among a growing number
of American celebrities who’ve publicly
denounced police brutality and social
injustice in the United States.

Nike risked their reputation by

spearheading their new campaign with a
tweet from Kaepernick.

The initial backlash and stock price drop

turned in their favour when worldwide media
commended Nike for taking a moral stand.
iHOP - IHOB

When IHOP launched a range of burgers, they

needed to distance themselves from their
breakfast image and convey that they were
taking their new menu items seriously.

They did so by inverting the ‘P’ in their

logo to a ‘b’. Temporarily rebranded as
IHOb, International House of Burgers, they
gave their Hollywood store a brand makeover
too.
Budweiser -
Tagwords
Budweiser isn't able to advertise using
copyrighted images of famous musicians
drinking their beer.

So they created a campaign to simply lead

people to these images. Google Search terms
like “1978 Ballroom Holding Budweiser -
search it” were plastered on billboards, bus
stops and beer coasters.

Search results led viewers to iconic images

of musicians like Jim Morrison and Mick
Jagger drinking bottles of Bud.
Wendy’s - Keeping
Fortnite Fresh
Wendy’s beamed their brand into the world of
Fortnite the only way they knew how - by
creating an on-brand character.

During game mode “Food Fight”, a girl with

red hair called Wendy suddenly appeared and
started destroying meat freezers for nine
hours straight (because Wendy’s famously
doesn’t use frozen meat).
XBox - Football
Decoded
Xbox had to find a way to promote FIFA 2018
despite not owning any marketing rights to
the game.

They partnered with Real Madrid to

translate all possible passes and shots
into equivalent button combinations on an
Xbox controller.

The moves were displayed on the digital

perimeter boards during live matches. This
gave videogamers a new watching experience
and had everyone talking about Xbox FIFA
tactics.
Carlings - Address
the Future
Carlings created a digital clothing
collection to bring their online store into
international spotlight.

Challenging the negative impacts of fashion

consumption whilst still encouraging
creative expression, the clothing range was
inspired by virtual skinning of games like
Fortnite.

Shoppers had to take a photo of themselves,

pick clothing from the store, fit it with a
3D tailor, then post the photo.
Aeromexico -
DNA Discounts
Aeromexico trolled racist Americans by
offering them discounts on flights to
Mexico.

The Mexican carrier performed DNA tests for

US citizens in southern states, and then
offered them the equivalent of their
Mexican DNA profile as a percentage off
flights.

The campaign was culturally poignant, not

only helping overcome the stigma of the
airline’s name, but exposing the absurdity
of racist views fuelled by Trump’s border
wall rhetoric.
Reporters Without
Borders - The
Uncensored Playlist
A collection of songs representing censored
speech were was released as The Uncensored
Playlist on 2019 World Day Against Cyber
Censorship.

As music streaming platforms are freely

available in repressed states, Reporters
Without Borders took advantage of this
loophole and brought the words of five
respected but repressed journalists to the
world, using local singers and musicians to
create the flavour of each piece of music.
Jordan Brand -
A/R Jordan
Jordan Brand turned the myth of “Air Jordan”
into “A/R Jordan” when they pulled off a
Snapchat and e-commerce campaign for a new
generation of NBA fans.

Coincidentally hosting the All-Star Weekend

on the 30-year anniversary of Michael
Jordan’s 1988 slam-dunk win, the brand took
this inspirational moment and recreated it.

They overlaid Jordan onto a geofenced

basketball court in his famous jump shot.
Snapchat viewers could watch the shot in
real-time and score the latest Air Jordan
III sneakers.
The ALS Association
- Project Revoice

Project Revoice created a groundbreaking

voice cloning program to give ALS sufferers
their real voices back.

Speech technology amalgamated recorded

snippets of people’s speech and replaced
their robotic voice with a natural sounding
voice.

The program was launched by restoring the

voice of Pat Quinn, ALS sufferer and co-
founder of the now famous Ice Bucket
Challenge.
Dagoma - Toy
Rescue
Dagoma wanted to solve the problem of
millions of broken toys ending up in the
landfill every year.

The 3D printer manufacturer identified

those parts of toys most frequently lost or
broken, from barbies, action figures,
Pokemon, Star Trek ships, board games and
more.

They got the manufacturers to create

digital files of the pieces and offered
them as free downloads at toy-rescue.com.
There are now more than 100 models
available.
XBox -
Visit XBox
Xbox heralded the graphic optimizations of
a new suite of game titles with a tourism
campaign.

They showcased beautiful settings from

their games - the Japanese Senpou Temple of
Sekiro and Paradise Islands as featured in
Assassin's Creed Odyssey - to encourage
players to visit for the beauty and
serenity that the graphics allow.
Cancer@Work - The
Unstoppable Resume

Cancer@Work gave cancer sufferers a

fighting chance to re-enter the job market.

They created a resume generator that

incorporated skills one might develop
during a battle with cancer, for example
stress management, patience and problem
solving skills.

This allows the candidate’s resume to pass

through software filters used by large
recruitment companies.
The Dali Museum
- Dali Lives
The Dalí Museum in Florida brought the
surrealist himself back to life for the
30th anniversary of his death.

Far from surreal, AI Dali was a realistic

portrayal built from archival video footage
combined with the facial expressions of an
actor with similar physical attributes.

Visitors could ask questions to Dali from

multiple screens around the museum and
receive a response modelled from his own
writing and present-day information.
Back Market -
Refurbished Tweets

Smartphone refurbishers Back Market dug up

tweets about old phone models from over 300
of America’s biggest celebrities.

They responded to every one and then mailed

the model in question to the celebrities -
for example Kylie Jenner once tweeted that
she couldn’t wait for the new iPhone 5, so
she got one.
The Cybersmile -
Foundation
#TROLLINGISUGLY

Chessie King, influencer and body

confidence advocate, listened to trolls on
the Internet to prove a point about cyber
abuse.

She started with a post about body image on

her Instagram channel, and a production
team gradually altered her face and body in
response to the negative comments she
received.

By the end of the day she possessed a

distorted physique somewhat resembling a
horror movie barbie doll.
New York Public
Library - Insta Novels

The New York Public Library added a modern

twist to classic literature when they
reimagined the novel on Instagram.

Contemporary illustrator Magoz selected

narrative sequences with strong visual
elements, turning pages of famous books
into eye-grabbing 10-second stories. The
entire book was uploaded into Highlights
with illustrations throughout, so the
reader could experience a novel without
leaving Instagram.
Dove - Project
#Showus
Dove worked with Getty Images and Girlgaze
to create an empowering campaign that
addresses misrepresentation of female-
identifying individuals in mainstream
media.

Project #showus is a stock photo library

created by women for women. It features
over 5,000 photographs of ‘real’ women from
39 countries, with no digital retouching,
and positive image metatags like
‘beautiful’, ‘strong’ and ‘independent’.
NY Presbyterian -
Hospital TXT 2 HLP
A text line for suicide prevention offers
cancer patients the opportunity to help
save another human life.

TXT 2 HLP was created to connect patients

at NY–Presbyterian hospital with people
threatening to end their own lives. 12
patients with terminal cancer enrolled and
completed a 30-hour online training program
before becoming home-based, volunteer
crisis counsellors.

The pilot program was so successful, it

expanded to all affiliate hospitals.
Fortnite -
The End
Epic Games facilitated the end of the world
as Fornite gamers knew it, sucking the
entire universe of Fortnite: Battle Royale
and all its characters into a black hole at
the climax of Season 10.

The transformative event occurred

simultaneously for all players, even wiping
clean all official social media trails, and
created a suspenseful two day gap before
the launch of Chapter 2, Season 1.
Skillbox -
Machine Warning
Skillbox University used scare tactics to
target financial professionals at risk of
losing their jobs to robots.

They developed an AI bot that could locate

the printers of professionals working in
roles that rely on algorithms, and printed
them a warning.

The message urged readers to retrain with

Skillbox in their UX design course,
cleverly positioning them as the
institution through which to pursue a new
creative career path.
Banco Pichincha
- Cheering Cup
Banco Pichincha used 3D printing technology to
create a one-of-a-kind trophy for the
continent’s top football club.

As official sponsor of La Liga professional

football division, they wanted to do something
special for LDU Quito, the unbeaten club
famously known as ‘The King of Trophies’.

They placed sensors on the field during one of

their games and translated the sound waves of
50,000 cheering fans into a 3D print model.
The cup was printed and presented to the team
to forever enshrine the passion of their
followers.
German Youth
Association of People
With Hearing Loss - Signs

People with hearing loss can now use smart

voice assistants using only their hands as
communication tools.

SIGNS is a trained AI that recognizes and

translates sign language and responds on
any device screen.

It was created in conjunction with the

German Youth Association of People with
Hearing Loss and works with voice
assistants like Alexa, Siri, Cortana and
Google Assistant.
Tanqueray - Searching
for the Special Color of
Seville
Tanqueray awarded the first ever Pantone color
to the namesake city of their new gin.

Flor de Seville gin blossoms with the

fragrances of Seville, so it had to capture
the heart of the Spanish people.

Tanqueray set out to discover the famously

talked about ‘special color of Seville’, using
an algorithm on Google Street View to locate
the most iconic monuments and most popular
streets. It analysed over 10,000 images and
calculated the chromatic identity of the city,
#FFAB60 orange, which was then certified by
Pantone.
Ministry of Technology
& Communication of
Colombia - My Line
Many Colombians live in remote areas and
have no internet access.

The Ministry of Technology and

Communication created “My Line”, a Google
Assistant service accessible from any
landline.

Users call 6000913 (symbolic of Google),

ask their question, and AI combined with
Google Assistant’s free APIs will locate the
answer and speak it back to the caller.
Reporters without
Borders - Billboards
Beyond Borders
Billboards Beyond Borders took advantage of
a Google Maps loophole to create a guerilla
campaign visible only Google Street View.

They imposed bold, conspicuous quotes by

censored and threatened journalists over
existing billboards, and uploaded the
photos into Street View in regions where
freedom of speech is suppressed.

Google took down the campaign within 72

hours on the grounds of policy violation,
but not before the campaign reached its
desired audience.
Huawei - Story
Sign
Huawei created the world’s first sign
language reading app for children using AI
and augmented reality.

A collaboration between the phone brand,

Penguin Books and various global deaf
associations, hundreds of classic childrens’
stories were translated into 14 different
sign languages.

The reader only has to hold their

smartphone over a storybook page and the
app’s avatar named Star signs the story to
them.
Google Arts and
Culture - Draw To Art

Google Arts and Culture are responsible for

digitizing art collections around the
world.

“Draw to Art” pulls subject matter from the

large collection of drawings, paintings and
sculptures, and engages audiences with
works based on what they’ve doodled on an
interactive screen.
Burger King -
Burn That Ad
Burger King Brazil had customers burning
competitor ads in exchange for a free
flame-grilled Whopper.

Consumers took to the BK app and used an AR

feature that recognized rival brands’ ads
and burnt them on their screen.

The action added a free Whopper to their

cart that they could pick up at their
nearest BK restaurant.
Apple - Memoji

After the popularity of Animoji, Apple

promoted another incarnation of face
avatars with the release of iOS 12.

Memoji is the human version for iMessage

and Facetime. Users can create more
expressive avatars and convey mood and
personality using the iPhone’s new depth-
sensing camera.
Japan’s Philharmonic
Orchestra - Sound-Free
Concert
New performance technology developed by
Japan’s Philharmonic Orchestra enables the
hearing impaired to discover the world of
classical music.

Concert goers feel rather than hear the

music, by holding a large ball called a
‘Sound Hug’.

Sound waves resonate through the ball while

it changes color depending on the pitch of
the music.
IKEA - IKEA
Reactive
Ikea’s blue plastic Frakta bags are globally
recognizable, so when Balenciaga released a
strikingly similar $2,145 leather bag, the
retailer launched a tongue-in-cheek
campaign to help consumers tell the
difference.

Promoting the obvious qualities of their

99-cent bag, such as its ability to
withstand being thrown in the dirt and
rinsed clean, they uncovered a product that
people didn’t even know they desired.
Burger King -
Boy 1 Boy 2
Burger King served some robot humour when
they pretended to give an AI bot full
creative reign over their latest ad
campaign.

The bot was supposedly fed 1000 hours of BK

ads in order to come up with its own, which
was a funny but scrambled ad.

Comedian Keaton Patti was revealed to be

the true instigator, proving that humans
are the only cognizant creatives after all.
Apotek Hjartat
- Skin For Skin
Gamers on Steam can now ‘level up’ their own
skin thanks to Swedish pharmacy Apotek
Hjärtat.

They activated a function in the game where

players trade in-game skins and items for
actual skincare products, which get mailed
to them.

The campaign stressed the importance of

skin health by drawing attention to the
negative impacts of sleep deprivation and
many hours sitting in front of a screen.
Myer - Stockings
That Save Christmas

Myer launched a global positioning stocking

to help Santa locate transient families
over the Australian Christmas.

Many families spend Christmas Day away from

home, visiting others, at a holiday house
or at the beach, which makes it difficult
for Santa to track down kids to deliver
presents.

The “Christmas is where we are” campaign

solved the problem with the Bluetooth-
enabled stockings and an accompaniment of
interactive festive features.
Ford -
Accessibility Mat
Ford redesigned the Ecosport’s trunk mat
into a portable ramp for wheelchair users.

The car is the top selling model for

disabled drivers, so it made sense to
create an accessory that doubles as a ramp
to go up street curbs and navigate
inaccessible routes.

Every time it’s used, the location is

uploaded to a map database, building an
accessibility guide for all other users.
XBox - Changing
the Game
The Xbox Adaptive Controller and packaging
aim to reduce the challenges faced by
gamers with limited mobility.

Microsoft wanted to empower disabled gamers

to experience the full enjoyment of
adventure games so they worked with the
disabled gaming community to design a fully
customizable controller.

It has a more natural feel and 19 rows of

ports for external accessories like
buttons, mounts and joysticks.
Samsung - The
Galaxy Skin
Samsung positioned themselves as the gaming
device of choice when their Galaxy Skin
became the most wanted skin in Fortnite.

They collaborated with the game makers to

create an exclusive skin only available on
their newest model, Note9.

They then gave it to the world's most

followed gamer and he trialed it in front
of an online audience of millions.
Monash University
- SIP Safe
To combat sexual assaults resulting from
drink spiking, Monash University developed
a wristband to detect drugs in drinks.

Sip Safe wristbands change color if a drop

of liquid has levels of ketamine or GHB in
it.

They launched the item at Australia’s

widespread school leaver parties, before
distributing to universities, night venues
and festivals around the country.
Ben&Jerry's -
The Unbreakable
Rainbow
Ben & Jerry's created a symbol of LGBT
tolerance in the centre of Warsaw during a
period of far-right protest.

A former rainbow installation had stood in

situ and been destroyed seven times before
the companiy intervened with an
indestructible hologram of water and light,
to symbolize their unwavering support for
the LGBT community.
RMIT - Sans
Forgetica
RMIT University created a memory-
accelerating font that they offered to
students during examinations.

Sans Forgetica was designed using

principles of cognitive psychology; the
brain recalls more of what is written in
the font because it has to work harder to
process it.

The campaign launched during the national

university application period to showcase
RMIT’s innovation and to prime high school
students to apply with them.
Reclame Aqui -
Corruption Detector

Corruption Detector is an app that exposed

corrupt Brazilian politicians ahead of the
2017 election.

Developed by consumer protection company

Reclame Aqui, it utilized facial
recognition technology and data accumulated
from hundreds of Brazilian courts.

Voters only had to scan the face of a

political candidate from real-life, TV or
digital media, for the app to return a
detailed profile on their concealed history
of offences.
Black & Abroad -
Go Back To Africa
Black & Abroad turned a racial slur into
the backbone of an aspirational tourism
campaign.

They reclaimed tweets of “Go back to Africa”

and repurposed them with beautiful images
and positive messaging, targeting them at
young black Americans.

GoBackToAfrica.com used an algorithm to

curate images of black travellers in Africa
from social media, and they served interest
targeted banner ads to connect visitors to
specific countries featured in the
campaign.
Samsung -
SportsCenter Emoji-
Fied
Samsung ‘emoji-fied’ the faces of ESPN
SportsCenter presenters to promote the new
Galaxy S9 in Brazil.

As one of the phone’s key innovations,

personalized user emojis replaced the two
co-hosts’ faces for the duration of the
prime time sports show, surprising viewers
and showing just how life-like the new
feature was.
Petz - Pet-
Commerce
Brazil’s largest pet store created an online
shopping experience for dogs instead of
owners.

They used data collected from 20,000 facial

expressions of different breeds and
developed an AI algorithm that could
identify a dog’s facial expressions as
effectively as a dog trainer.

The website’s UX and UI are designed

specifically for canine vision and hearing.
Via the device’s camera, the site reads
expressions of approval and adds items that
they like to the shopping cart.
KFC - KFC
Innovation Lab
KFC created a crowd-funding campaign to
bring some of their fans’ craziest marketing
ideas to life.

Innovation Lab let fans get creative and

then leveraged the top five most outlandish
product concepts on Indiegogo, from a hot
tub shaped like a bucket of chicken to a
smart TV remote fashioned in the style of
Colonel Sanders’ cane.
National Geographic -
First Ever 3D VR Filmed
in Space
National Geographic created a compelling
3D-VR viewing experience when they deployed
the first VR camera into space.

It accompanied astronaut Paolo Nespoli

aboard the International Space Station and
captured his unique worldview.

It was used to promote the new documentary,

One Strange Rock, which was a ground-
breaking look at life on our planet as told
by Will Smith and a group of famous
astronauts.
 Hey,
2020
Do you have a project you’d like considered for 2020’s round-up?
Send Daniel a project and we’ll try to include it next year.
100+ Iconic
Digital Ads
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Thanks
Daniel Eckler Julian Cole
danieleckler.com planningdirty.com