Work of the Week: 29/11/24

Chances are, even if you’ve never been to a Disney theme park in your life, you’ve heard of the iconic song ‘It’s a Small World’. Originally written in 1964, this popular piece has spent the past 60 years being synonymous with the brand – impacting global pop culture and influencing various genres of music along the way. So, to celebrate this milestone anniversary, as well as the enduring legacy of its composers, Richard and Robert Sherman, adam&eveDDB and SMUGGLER director Henry Alex Rubin created ‘The Last Verse’. Taking viewers on a journey through the song’s history and evolution, the film features rare footage, including a brand new verse that was written by Richard Sherman before his passing in 2024.

With Black Friday now in full swing, Amazon is undoubtedly juggling a great many customers – all of whom are eager to score some sweet deals and get their holiday shopping underway. Of course, price alone isn’t always the determining factor on the success of a sale. Believe it or not, according to the brand’s in-house creative agency, 79% of customers often or always read a product review before making a purchase. As such, in order to celebrate the importance of this, the team worked with Caviar director Jonathan Krisel to create a series of humorous spots. Starring Adam Driver, and serving as an extension of the retailer’s ‘Joy is Shared’ campaign, each sees the actor dramatically narrate a legitimate five-star review, extolling the virtues of everything from banana slicers to dutch ovens.

For the kids who grew up celebrating Christmas, there was nothing scarier than the concept of Santa not leaving any gifts under the tree. Whether this was due to a ‘naughty list’ placement, clerical error by the elves, or, worst of all, Santa straight up being able to not deliver, it was a fear everyone experienced at some point, and which Airbnb playfully teases in its latest campaign. An extension of the ongoing ‘Get an Airbnb’ series, this 60-second animated spot aptly points out that Santa’s delivery job is nigh impossible when one chooses to stay in a hotel. Told in the rhyming style of ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’, the work depicts the jolly old man’s struggles to overcome everything from keycards to the lack of chimneys – a testament to the fact that it’s probably much easier to receive seasonal gifts when one chooses an Airbnb offering instead.

If you’ve ever tried to learn a language, you’ll know that achieving immersion is the hardest part. However, once you have that ‘aha’ moment, whether it’s pronunciation clicking or a sentence coming together with relative ease, things always start to get easier. This is exactly what Rosetta Stone celebrates in its latest campaign – incidentally, the first it has launched in over two years. Created by Mekanism and directed by Furlined duo Speck & Gordon, the work centres around three entertaining stories of immersion achieved. From a farmer learning German who turns his barn into a club – complete with dancing cows – to a French-studying diner chef who suddenly goes down the haute cuisine rabbit hole, it all points to the fact that with Rosetta Stone, it’s about the joy of progress, rather than the challenge itself.

While Black Friday shopping always brings bubble and buzz, unfortunately, there can be a dark side to this occasion. Specifically, per the 2024 TechReport, 88% of shoppers have previously overspent – something that can have long term ramifications both physically and mentally. In an attempt to offset this outcome and encourage Canadians to take a break from the sales, Decathlon Canada and its partner agency Rethink are inviting people to put down their devices and pick up an activity instead. Centred around a series of out-of-home ads which depict the titular ‘Make Time for Sports’ as online calendar meetings underneath the feet of various athletes and their venues of choice, it all serves as a fun yet poignant reminder to prioritise physical and mental health on a day where those otherwise might not be top of mind.

Here’s a fun story for you. A man decides his ideal wedding venue is at the one and only Katz’s Delicatessen, but finds out the fee is steep. So, he asks if there’s a way he can strike a deal and offset the cost… which in turn leads to him creating a 1:20-long commercial – the first-ever official ad for the deli. This is exactly how this spot, directed by M ss ng p eces filmmaker Nicolas Heller (known across social media as New York Nico), came to life. Telling the story of twin brothers – one of whom has been receiving mailed sandwiches (in envelopes) from the other, this labour of love serves to humorously highlight the fact that now, the famous shop will do overnight delivery to anywhere in the US and Canada.

Last but certainly not least on this list is the Royal Ontario Museum’s latest iteration of its ‘Immortal’ brand platform. Driven by the decision to depart from the human-focused lens of the initial campaign, this work, created by Broken Heart Love Affair and brought to life by Revolver Films’ Rune Milton follows a chimpanzee’s interactions with diverse species and landscapes, illustrating Earth’s evolution in the process. Scored to music from the Italian opera ‘L'elisir d'amore’, this breathtaking film emphasises the beauty and connections among life forms across time, inviting viewers to take in the museum’s collection with a renewed sense of wonder, and serving as a reminder that every specimen has its own role to play in the opera that is life on this planet.