This week we’re looking at the latest work from Ocado, Doom(?), and Amazon.
1. Ocado rewind to reliability
Thanks to some new research.
WHY IT WORKS
Apparently, people value reliability more than convenience or value when it comes to grocery deliveries. That seems unintuitive, particularly when it comes to convenience, but sometimes the truth is just unintuitive.
Anyway, with that as a starting place, Uncommon Studios created this lovely ad. It features a summer birthday party - played in reverse. In true Murphy’s Law form, what can go wrong, does go wrong - the British weather turns sour and drives the party inside, the dog causes chaos, Dad tries to do the worm. The point is, as the ad ends at the start of the day, that Ocado will sort you on the food, even if everything else is predictably unpredictable.
There are some nice social media-isms when it comes to the food prep shots, with some very satisfying slicing and chopping and blending and oven-watching - but having it all play in reverse makes it feel fresh and new, not pastiched.
WHAT YOU CAN STEAL
When you get a nugget of info from some research, like the fact that people value reliability the most, it can be worth stretching what that fact really means. That info could have led to a very boring ad, but understanding what it means in situ, not in isolation, can help unlock creative work and ensure you are still properly drilling into the real world and real people.
2. Was this on anyone’s 2025 bingo card?
I doubt it was on Doomguy’s.
WHY IT WORKS
It works because it’s surprising.
Doom is a decades-old, beloved video game franchise, famous for its savage goriness, heavy-metal soundtrack, and ruthless protagonist, the Doom Slayer (or Doomguy as he is commonly known).
So naturally, with a new game coming out, the brand held a little something at the Chelsea Flower Show. A handmade fire pit, surrounded by gorgeous dark flowers, including black velvet petunias and Odessa Zantedeschias, formed the activation. Mini desktop versions of the fire pit are available to buy, as you’d expect.
WHAT YOU CAN STEAL
So much points to this being a fun but strange bit of work. It’s unlikely that many gamers would be at the Chelsea Flower Show, or would even see this bit of work online. But there are two things that I think are nickable:
(1) Sometimes your category conventions can live outside your category. Gamers like collectibles and easter eggs and new things to discover. Or, at least, they like them in the games they play - so launching some in real life might not be a bad way to just tip the scales in your favour for their next video game purchase.
(2) Sometimes things are fun. And that’s not a great reason by itself to turn it into advertising, but it is a good complimentary reason. Sure, Bethesda (the game studio behind Doom) could have pumped some more money into Reddit ads, and probably earned more sales that way. But video games are fun and creative, and sometimes the work needs to be that, too.
3. A long-running campaign gets a new update
Amazon and creative shop Joint are sticking with the nursery rhymes for now…
WHY IT WORKS
This isn’t typically the kind of ad I normally feature in the Breakdown. It’s good, but not the kind of work that really makes you sit up. What I do like, though, is Amazon’s commitment to a campaign over a few years. Joint have cooked up work for Amazon Business based on Leonardo da Vinci, a pirate ship, Little Bo Peep, and now Peter Piper who’s picking peppers.
All the ads are pretty down-the-line - take a fictional or funny setting, introduce Amazon’s “Smart Business Buying” tools (always with a shot of someone accessing them via a phone), and watch as chaos turns to profits. Really simple story-telling, kept entertaining each time.
WHAT YOU CAN STEAL
I just rewatched an episode of Love, Death and Robots the other day (great snackable TV, if you haven’t watched it before), and re-heard the line: there is a “simple pleasure of the execution of a task well done”. Very philosophical for a cartoon, but appropriate here for when you need well-made work that does a simple thing. Frills and bows and insights and innovative media choices weren’t needed here - just a good, enjoyable, watchable ad that tells business owners that they can get what they need from Amazon. Whether that’s the smart move at all for a business owner… I’ll leave that as an exercise for the reader.