It's just poo. And in the end it won't matter.
Each week, the advertising industry holds up a mirror to the culture it serves — and this week, through the eyes of LEGO's global creative director Haylie Craig, that mirror reflects a quiet but meaningful shift. From a British toilet paper brand confronting the unspoken fears of childbirth to a Dutch beer company turning sports viewership into community service, the best campaigns of the week share a common instinct: trust your audience with something real. In a media landscape crowded with noise, the work that endures tends to be the work that doesn't flinch.
- Andrex breaks a long-standing cultural silence by naming the fear most birthing people carry into labor — and refusing to look away from it.
- Heineken engineers a quiet disruption in volunteer recruitment, threading community service through the ritual of watching football in a way that feels like a reward rather than an obligation.
- Less Mess Storage and VitaKeratin each demonstrate that the fastest path to recognition is a single, uncluttered idea — a monster made of junk, a meme that fits the brand like a glove.
- Subway's six-year meatball absence in the UAE becomes a punchline and an announcement in one image — the ellipsis of a typing notification doing the work of an entire campaign.
- Across every category, the week's winning work lands in the same place: campaigns that respect their audiences enough to be honest, simple, or genuinely useful.
Every week, working creatives sift through the best advertising being made across television, print, billboards, and interactive media. This week's judge is Haylie Craig, global associate creative director at Our LEGO Agency in Denmark, and her selections move from the deeply intimate to the playfully absurd.
The television winner is Andrex's "Push Like You're Pooing" — a film about something most people who give birth quietly dread: losing bowel control in front of family and medical staff. Three-quarters of birthing people carry this fear. Rather than sidestep it, the spot normalizes it, suggesting that if it happens, it won't matter in the end. Craig valued the film's authenticity, particularly the inclusion of real birth parents, and noted a deliberate shift in cinematography as a smart creative choice.
In print, Less Mess Storage won with the "Cluttersaurus" — a visual metaphor for what happens when accumulated belongings take on a life of their own. The idea lands instantly. Runner-up Subway faced a specific challenge: meatballs had been absent from UAE menus for six years. Their solution was a single "Subway is Typing" notification graphic — a small, clever reveal that said everything without saying much at all.
The outdoor winner, a VitaKeratin billboard, leaned into internet meme culture through a character named Fyang. Craig praised it for moving with purpose — the brand and the meme felt like natural partners rather than a forced pairing. The interactive winner, Heineken's "Fan Volunteers," found a loophole in volunteer recruitment and built an experience where people could watch football while signing up to help their communities — entertainment and civic contribution arriving together.
What Craig's selections share is a quiet discipline: Andrex doesn't hide behind euphemism, Less Mess Storage doesn't overcomplicate its metaphor, VitaKeratin doesn't strain to be relevant, and Heineken doesn't pretend volunteering is effortless — it simply makes it more worthwhile. The best work this week trusted its audience with a clean, uncluttered truth.
Every week, a panel of working creatives sits down to sift through the best advertising being made across the globe—television, print, billboards, interactive experiences, the full spectrum. This week, the judge is Haylie Craig, a global associate creative director at Our LEGO Agency in Denmark, and she's looking at work that ranges from the deeply intimate to the playfully absurd.
The television winner is an Andrex spot called "Push Like You're Pooing." It's a film about something most people don't talk about: the fear that during labor, in front of family and medical staff, a person might lose control of their bowels. Three-quarters of people who give birth worry about this. The commercial doesn't shy away from it. Instead, it normalizes the fear, treats it as a natural part of the process, and suggests that when it happens—if it happens—it won't matter in the end. Craig appreciated the film's willingness to be authentic, especially the inclusion of real birth parents at the end, validating the experience. She also noted the shift in cinematography style as a smart creative choice. The runner-up, a Steadfast Stationery print ad titled "Don't Look Up," apparently contains a plot twist Craig didn't want to spoil.
In print, the winner is a Less Mess Storage advertisement featuring something called the "Cluttersaurus." The idea is straightforward: visualize what happens when clutter spirals out of control, when the stuff we accumulate becomes a creature of its own. Combined with the brand's logo, the message reads instantly. People recognize themselves in it. The runner-up is a Subway campaign that had to solve a particular problem—meatballs had been off the menu in the UAE for six years, and the chain needed to announce their return. The solution was simple: a "Subway is Typing" graphic, the kind of notification you see when someone is composing a message. It's a small, clever reveal.
Outdoor advertising brought a VitaKeratin billboard that leaned into internet meme culture. The campaign features a character named Fyang, and the execution feels neither forced nor overexplained. Craig called it cool precisely because it moved quickly and with purpose—the brand and the meme felt like natural partners. The runner-up, a Jupiter campaign for aluminium billboards, took what could have been a forgettable moment and turned it into something worth noticing. The product itself became the story.
The interactive category winner is a Heineken initiative called "Fan Volunteers." The mechanics are clever: Heineken found a loophole in how volunteer recruitment works, then built an experience where people could watch football matches while also signing up to help their communities. It's a double reward—entertainment and the satisfaction of contributing something real. Craig expressed hope that Heineken would be flooded with volunteers as a result.
What emerges from Craig's selections is a pattern: the best work this week tends toward simplicity, authenticity, and purpose. Andrex doesn't hide behind euphemism. Less Mess Storage doesn't overcomplicate its visual metaphor. VitaKeratin doesn't force a meme into a brand message. Heineken doesn't pretend volunteering is fun—it just makes it more rewarding. These are campaigns that seem to understand their audience well enough to trust them with the truth, or at least with a clean, uncluttered idea.
Citações Notáveis
I hope this film helps more people learn that this is okay and you have nothing to fear.— Haylie Craig, on the Andrex labor campaign
Hope Heineken is flooded with Fan Volunteers.— Haylie Craig, on the Heineken interactive campaign
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why do you think Andrex's labor campaign resonated with you, when it's addressing something so personal and uncomfortable?
Because it doesn't flinch. Most brands would bury that fear or make a joke out of it. Andrex just says: this happens, it's normal, and it won't define the moment. That takes courage, and it also takes research—they had real birth parents in the film, which means they did the work to get it right.
The print and outdoor winners both seem to rely on visual simplicity. Is that a trend you're seeing, or just what worked this week?
It's both. There's so much noise now that a single, clear image—a cluttered dinosaur, a meme character on a billboard—cuts through instantly. People don't have time to decode complexity. But it has to be the right simplicity. It can't feel lazy.
Heineken's volunteer campaign is interesting because it's not really selling beer. What's the creative insight there?
It's recognizing that people want to feel useful, especially if they're already going to be somewhere—a football match. Heineken didn't invent volunteering or football. They just connected two things that wanted to meet each other and made the experience better for both.
Do you see these campaigns as part of a larger shift in advertising?
Absolutely. Brands are moving away from trying to convince you they're something they're not. Instead, they're finding where their product or service actually solves a real problem or connects to something people already care about. It's less about the pitch and more about the fit.