In “Gates,” car service Heetch offers a fresh ode to the suburbs of greater Paris. Such areas are mostly avoided by city dwellers and generally seen as where the riffraff live. (It’s also harder to get cars to pick you up there, or take you back, because of these same prejudices.) BETC Paris’ work is a love letter to the “gates” that divide the metropolis from its surroundings—letting people in, watching people go and connecting different worlds.

Rice, rice, baby! In a campaign of the same name, Müller Yogurt & Desserts showcases its partnership with footballer Declan Rice in the U.K. This promotes its Rice Protein offering during a “Summer of Sport.” In a series of billboard installations, Declan is shown holding a 3D car over his head while retrieving a ball. It’s very Popeye. Work by VCCP.

We’ll wrap with a surreal and charming initiative from independent insurance firm Helan in Belgium. Created by FamousGrey, the campaign poses a question: “We all take care of someone, but who takes care of us?” The answer: Insurance! LOL. We like how it illustrates the concept of interdependence.

Ben Tonge directed through VCCP content studio Girl & Bear. It’s kind of exhausting to watch, but oddly exhilarating nonetheless.

Tango’s all about riffing on criminal justice these days, as “Warden” follows 2023’s stupid crime-scene scenario. Such work helped drive a nearly 13 percent sales boost in the past year, the brand says.

Pouring on the subversive humor serves as a broad continuation of Tango tropes from the early-90s. Back then, pre-internet, “Orange Man” became a cause célèbre and one of the era’s most beloved (or possibly reviled) ads from the U.K.

Current efforts target Gen Z, with TikTok posts and OOH elements in the mix.

Like the kids say: It’s snackable!

The chocolate morsels are 3cm tall, so celebrating them in scaled-down fashion seemed like a fine idea, according to VCCP. Model maker Paul Baker designed the itsy-bitsy ladder, bucket and brush.

The initiative broke today, just in time for Easter.

In a separate campaign, Native and VCCP U.S. launched a pair of ads that play up the deodorants’ staying power.

First, a wife is skeptical of her husband’s whereabouts in “The Return.” He smells too darn fresh to have roamed bear-infested woods for three days:

And how can someone smell so clean after just running a marathon:

VCCP London enlisted a judgmental mallard for Keep Britain Tidy. Its job: enlighten people who drop cigarette butts, which account for 66 percent of England’s litter. The approach is meant to “educate” smokers that butts are trash, without alienating them … hence the duck? They swear there was lots of psychology involved.

Turkey dinner is a common British holiday tradition, and PETA U.K. would like to end that right now. So, House 337 cast actor Jane Horrocks as an animated turkey that sings. Honestly, she’s even judgier than the anti-litter duck. Obviously that doesn’t mean she should die. One shouldn’t expect victims to be perfect. It’s just a weird approach. On the other hand, leaving us with mixed feelings is classic PETA.

For Argos in the U.K., The&Partnership presents “Dancer,” starring Connie the doll grooving to “Le Freak” by Chic. The toy dinosaur Trevor tries to film her, but tech is not his forte. Briefly, we wondered whether a crossover movie between Chuckie and Toy Story could have legs.

“Unwrap Your Story” is Zalando’s holiday ad by 72andSunny. It stars Chloë Sevigny, who is now a fashion designer. It features a visual “journal” of moments from her life, and ties multifaceted aspects of personhood to the diverse gifts you can purchase through this European version of Zappos.

Burger King France and Buzzman worked with the Papillons association on a campaign for anti-bullying day. The resto franchise greyed out one in 10 tables, self-checkout machines, crowns, bags, even letters in its windows. It did so to illustrate that while one grey thing in 10 leaps out, one bullied kid in 10 is less obvious. Profits from the Junior Menu on anti-bullying day were donated to Les Papillons.

Meet Baa-bour, who represents the British retailer Barbour in this quaint Shaun the Sheep ‘toon. It’s charming and apt, as Barbour’s marketing strategy mostly lies in savvy, well-considered alliances with other brands. There’s also a gift guide. Work by Journey Further.

We were overly delighted by “Find Your Dream Gift,” created for Chanel Watches and Fine Jewelry by Omnicom in France. It’s a luxury take on Bedknobs and Broomsticks. There’s a magic bed, lush presents appear out of nowhere, and—best of all—nobody ever has to leave the sheets, which are always crisp. In one especially beautiful scene, the bed floats on the river under a full moon, and in front of the Château de Chenonceau, where the ad was filmed. Owls hoot as Yoon Young Bae fishes in her pyjamas (even the rod is Chanel!). The other models present are Kim Schell and Adesuwa Aighewi. This is the vibe we’re starting our weekend with.

“Dr. Ellis uses a dream induction technique to set intentions that allow dreamers to become the hero,” Vreeken tells Muse. “These intentions can range from remembering the weapons or armor you might need to overcome a specific nightmare, or even who you might bring with you to help you in times of need.”

“Much of our dreams are influenced by our waking life. So, if gamers have been stuck in a certain place in Diablo IV, they may discover new techniques to overcome those obstacles.”

Then again, some folks might find beery dreams more refreshing.

CREDITS

Brand: Diablo
Daniela Rodriguez: Director of Brand Marketing
Kevin Carmona: Brand Marketing Manager
Aryan Mohsenzadeh: Brand Marketing Coordinator
Euni Moon Lee: Senior Director of Content Marketing
Krystha Dart: Sr Digital Marketing Manager
Patrick Coyle: Digital Marketing Manager
Maxim Samoylenko: Sr Public Relations Manager 
Laura Herzberg: Public Relations Coordinator 

Agency: VCCP US
Jed Grossman: Chief Creative Officer
Joel Kaplan: Executive Creative Director
Geoff Vreeken: Creative Director
Trevor Larson: Copywriter
Taylor Dahl: Art Director
Matt DeMilner: Art Director
Conor McFarland: Copywriter
Katy Aquino: Director of Creative Operations
Cara Orlowski: Director of Business Affairs
Jessica Ambrose: Executive Producer
Erin Kelly: Integrated Producer
Katie Nichols: Account Supervisor
Brendan Robertson: Managing Partner
Sashi Nair: Head of Strategy

Production
Ross Allen: Director
Mitchell Baxter: Director of Photography
Alex Greba: Gaffer
Colyn Cameron: Sound Operator

Editorial
Ryan Gee: Editor – “Teaser” “Launch” & “Visualizer” assets
Ross Allen : Editor – “Mini Documentary”
Miguel Barbosa: Assistant Editor – “Mini Documentary”

Sound Design & Mix: One Thousand Birds
Andrew Tracy: Sound Designer + Mixer
Andres Velasquez: Original Music
Guin Frehling: Executive Producer
Kira MacKnight: Managing Director + Executive Producer

Welcome to this week’s Eurovisions. We have a confession: There aren’t any hot cross buns in here, just cinnamon rolls. But they’re also kinda pretending to be something they’re not. In Åkestam Holst’s work for Swedish convenience store Pressbyrån, cinnamon buns (or “kanelbulle” in Swedish) are punted like luxury perfume. “Needless to say, we are not that good at French,” says the agency’s Henrik Billing.

Fun facts: Cinnamon rolls are Sweden’s fave pastry. They even have their own special day. Apparently much of the collateral for this work’s been stolen throughout major cities. Is it the weird French? The love of cinnamon rolls? The sparkly lady? We’ll never know, but the brand and agency call it “equally confusing and flattering.”

Last kiss goodbye from Paris Fashion Week: Christian Dior accompanies actress Souheila Yacoub ahead of her red carpet appearance for the Venice International Film Festival. She’s wearing a princessy but punk dress by the fashion house’s Maria Grazia Chiuri. This is mostly an indulgent view of Venice’s historic canals, which have become slightly less accessible.

Self-effacing, or self-defacing? Ikea Norway’s “Life is Not a Catalog” spent the past month making waves in its home country, and is doing victory laps through English-speaking ad publications. The work depicts aesthetic homescapes sullied by pee, vomit and parties. (Kinda feels like a documentary.) A nice reminder that Ikea products are backdrops and supports for life, which takes precedence. Ikea’s spent years honing that message. Below is “Puke.”

Netflix France and agency Jellyfish promote the return of Lupin, a series about a gentleman burglar, with out-of-home ads that look like luxury jewelry promotions. Except all the jewelry is missing.

Meta tapped BETC Paris to create an ad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France. “Passion Is Meant to Be Shared” leverages cartoony social network representations of every country, like a wallaby for Australia and a shamrock for Ireland. France’s is a rooster, which you’ll see plenty of in this work. 

More from BETC Paris: For a client called Morning, which rethinks corporate spaces with collaboration at the center, the agency revisited stock imagery of offices.

To plug Icelandair’s stopover offering—where people can book stops in Iceland between European and North American destinations—agencies Kubbco and Hvíta Húsið conceived “The Polite Tourist Bouncer.” The premise is that the stopover thing is so popular that people aren’t catching their connecting flights, so a bouncer is needed. Imagine if ICE were just one guy and a cute dog, and all those naughty “overstayers” weren’t treated like potential illegal immigrants, and Europe weren’t in the middle of a migrant crisis. Fun! Absolutely no notes.

With help from VCCP London, Domino’s revels in tearing loved ones apart. Sidenote: Apparently pizza boxes are awful? We are not experts on this topic.

BBH London supersized women for the new season of Barclay’s Women’s Super League. 

Responding to EU scrutiny around data gathering and sales (which is becoming an existential issue), Meta’s proposed charging EU citizens something like $17 a month for Facebook and Instagram experiences that don’t sell data. That’s pricier than your average OTT, and doesn’t even include linked accounts. (Of note: EU residents never even got access to the short-lived Threads because it failed to comply with data protection laws, indicating policymakers are increasingly confident that unfettered access to social networks is less important to people than once believed. Many EU countries have banned Google Analytics, unthinkable a handful of years ago.)

We’ll wrap with something weird, in the spirit of everything being weird now. Prettybird’s Sophie Muller recently directed the music video for “Mosquito” by PinkPantheress. It’s opulent and pretty, an escapist story about girlfriends going no-holds-barred shopping in London. Commercial catnip, very Gossip Girl, lots of brand-dropping. Amidst it all, PinkPantheress persists in carrying what appears to be a clay pigeon. (A Nikola Tesla reference? Probably not.)

Drop those sodas and assume the position!

Mixing cop-show tropes with absurdist humor, U.K. soft drink Tango launches its first work in four years through VCCP London.

Spoiler: It’s a bust. By which we mean a :60 from director Ben Tonge finds law enforcement raiding a “Tango Dark Berry Lab” and discovering cans, beakers and test tubes—in fact, a whole bricked-up wall—filled with that sweet purple beverage.

One of the fuzz takes a taste and starts acting silly before the tagline “Get Tango’d” flashes on screen.

Did we mention that it’s silly? Sure is. But true to the brand’s loopy marketing DNA, with a dash of contemporary ITV crime drama and vintage Monty Python tossed in. (It’d be the perfect PopCorners chaser for Walt and Jesse!)

“Tango is the reason many of us got into advertising in the first place, so we all knew we had huge shoes to fill when coming up with an entirely new campaign for the brand,” says VCCP creative director George Wait. “Tango has always pushed the boundaries on what’s acceptable for a soft drink. We’ve tried to honor this heritage, taking the brand back to its roots of comedic hyperbole.”

To fete the new flavor, “We’ve created a world, redefining the whole perception of Tango as a substance and giving new life to the idea of getting ‘Tango’d,'” he adds. “We’re excited to unleash this campaign on the world and continue to play in this slightly ridiculous, edgy and unmistakably ‘Tango’ universe we’ve created.”

VCCP and its content studio Girl&Bear worked with Infused (the in-house team at Tango parent Britvic), plus influencer expert Whalar, media shop MSix, visual identity house Bloom and PR agency Cirkle.

“The set build and pre-light was key to ensuring we created the most impactful Tango Dark Berry lab, with our working drinks contraption bubbling away, to the purple hues in our lighting to ooze that tangy flavor,” Girl&Bear producer Maxine Denton tells Muse.

“The top three moments from the shoot were: smashing a fake wall in one take, PC Johnson’s non-stop dancing, and 1,400 Tango cans falling on our last shot of the day,” she says.

The ad makes this point, presenting a washer that starts making indigestion noises in the dead of night, freaking out the family dog. Suddenly, the machine throws open its door and projectile-vomits a wet array of plastic all over the kitchen floor. Then it vomits up even more.

Titled “Sick of Plastic,” the spot illustrates the stages of vomiting to a T. From that uncomfortable, runny stomach upset, to the initial upchuck, through that final puey proper release that makes you feel like your intestines are fleeing Pompei. The ad ends on a less bilious note, telling us that 70 million plastic laundry packs go to landfills every year.

“This campaign aims to introduce Smol to an audience fatigued by anti-plastic messaging, with a humorous, attention-grabbing concept: A washing machine that vomits the plastic waste it’s likely to get through in its lifetime,” explains Smol CMO Hillary Strong. The goal, she says, is “mirroring our audience who are quite literally sick of plastic.”

Smol bills itself as having the world’s first plastic-free laundry packaging. We’re not sure that’s true. Washaby provides the same service in France and in Spain, and our Instagram feeds are inundated with come-ons from other brands. But this is a competitive situation we’re not complaining about.

Smol’s recyclable, compostable containers are approved by the Forest Stewardship Council. So, the material comes from responsibly managed forests. The packs are printed with vegetable-based ink.

“Sick of Plastic” was directed by Freddie Powell, and will run for eight weeks across TV and on-demand, with versions also slated for outdoor and digital.

“Deploying a playful metaphor to dramatize the shocking amount of laundry plastic waste the U.K. goes through attempts to sidestep the inertia in this market,” says Oli Rimoldi, a creative at Mother. “We’re hoping the ‘plastic vomiting washing machine’ will make people smile whilst drawing their attention to the plastic problem—offering them an easy, simple solution to make change with Smol.”

CREDITS

BRAND: Smol
CLIENT: Hillary Strong, CMO of Smol 
CAMPAIGN: “Sick of Plastic”

CREATIVE: Mother 
STRATEGY: Mother 

PRODUCTION (DROOL)
Director: Freddie Powell
DOP: Ben Magahy
Director’s Assistant: Joseph Paul
Exec Producer: Genevieve Sheppard
Producer: Jess Wylie
Production Design: Arthur De Borman
SFX Supervisor: Sean Harland, Matter SFX
SFX Assistant: Louis Burke, Matter SFX
SFX Assistant: Efe Agaulo, Matter SFX
SOUND: 750 MPH
Lead Sound Engineer: Sam Ashwell
Sound Engineer: Jake Ashwell
Producer: Olivia Ray

EDIT: Trim
Editor: Thomas Grove Carter
Producer: Tatyana Alexandr

POST: Untold
Exec Producer: Tom Igglesden
Producer: Ella Glazer 
Producer: Jordan Malonga
Colourist: Julien Alary
VFX Lead: George Rockliffe 
VFX Artist: Stepan Pazderka

MEDIA STRATEGY AND PLANNING: Craft Media
MEDIA BUYING: Goodstuff

Since joining forces at VCCP in 2013, the duo have created famous and award-winning work for some of the agency’s biggest clients. Leading the Cadbury Global, UK accounts since 2018; including with its much lauded “There’s a glass
and a half in everyone” campaign. Causing mayhem with numerous Amnesty International Humanity wins campaigns and more recently overseeing the whole of VCCP’s creative output including the rebirth of Virgin Media O2.

Prior to VCCP, Chris and Jonny lived separate lives at a number of agencies across London. Making stand out work for McDonald’s, Sky and The Department for Transport to name a few. Prior to that, the only thing that connected them was being born in the same hospital – the wonderful Doncaster Royal Infirmary.

We spent two minutes with Jonny and Chris to learn more about their background, creative inspirations and some recent work they’ve admired.

Jonny and Chris, tell us…

Where you grew up, and where you live now.

Jonny: I was born in Doncaster, up North, in the same hospital as Chris strangely enough. Although we didn’t meet until 30 years later. These days I’ve returned to Sussex in the south, near where I went to university. It was as far away from Doncaster as I could get all those years ago.

Chris: Born in Doncaster, grew up in LeedsLeedsLeeds, now I live in London.

How you first realized you were creative.

Jonny: This may sound like BS but I think as far back as I can remember. From the age of four I thought I was going to be an artist. Loved it. Probably because I was rubbish at everything else.

Chris: Sitting on Paul Salt’s living room floor trying to draw Dennis the Menace so it looked a bit like Dennis the Menace.

A person you idolized creatively early on.

Jonny: Damien Hirst. Bloody idolized him. When he arrived he made everyone talk about fine art. Everyone. Everywhere. From every walk of life. Even my Granny. He put it into the public domain. That was a massive achievement. What’s the point of being creative if nobody sees it? He got that.

Chris: Quentin Blake.

A moment from high school or college that changed your life.

Jonny: I’d just finished uni. Then there was this lightning-bolt moment. I was watching TV and an ad came on. It was a VW Polo ad, part of the surprisingly ordinary prices campaign. The one with the lamppost. I can honestly say this was the first time I can remember sitting up and actually watching an ad. It was like, “Oh my god, advertising can have an idea, a strategy, it isn’t just shouty jingles and catchy catchphrases.” It was so clever. The very next day I went from wannabe Hirst to wanna be Hegarty.

Chris: Being told my paintings had to have an idea in them. A philosophy. A higher level. I just wanted to paint a bowl of cherries so jacked it in for visual communications. It’s probable my paintings were just very bad.

A book, movie, TV show or podcast you recently found inspiring.

Jonny: My wife works in fashion PR. She’s got me watching Kingdom of Dreams. It’s about the two men that control luxury. LVMH vs Kering. A bit tragic, but very entertaining. What can I say. I rarely get to chose what’s on the TV.

Chris: Currently reading Wild Swans. Gives you a whole different way of looking at the world we think we know.

Your favorite fictional character.

Jonny: Liz Truss? 

Chris: General Kurtz from Apocalypse Now.

Someone or something worth following in social media.

Jonny: One of the juniors just was talking about welcome.jpeg on Instagram. Lost hours of my life down the rabbit hole.

Chris: Not sure anyone is worth the staring into the black mirrored abyss are they? Maybe Kalvin Phillips.

How Covid-19 changed your life, personally or professionally.

Jonny: Covid was awful. It was terrifying, like, the end of the world. But as time went on I found so many positives. We witnessed the best of humanity. Communities helping each other. Magical really. And working from home became so liberating. Spending valuable time with my wife and our little boys, I loved it. And as for work, it worked, pretty well. I think we made some pretty outstanding stuff regardless of the challenges and we’ve proven beyond a doubt that we no longer need to spend 100 percent of life in an office.

Chris: I met my wonderful partner Clare, turning the worst situation on its head.

One of your favorite creative projects you’ve ever worked on, and why.

Jonny: It was a long, long time ago. I managed to get a speculative brief for Sky One from a little promo agency called Devilfish. At the time Channel 4 were heavily advertising the Simpsons. Sky wanted to remind everyone that they were the home of the Simpsons. Super simple brief. We came up with this idea of recreating the most famous animated opening scene of all time but in live action. We worked for nearly two years with legendary director Chris Palmer to get it made. We had bugger all money and a mountain of stakeholders to get through including Matt Groening himself. It was a pure labor of love from everyone involved. We forgot to geofence it on YouTube and within 24 hours it had been seen over a million times in the U.S. We got a right bollocking. Worth it though.

Chris: When I was younger probably “It’s All Lies, They’re Not Even Square,” which was just wonderful to write. As one of the typographers, Andy Dimmock put it, “You’re just getting paid to write bol***ks. It’s wonderful.”