20 Unconventional Ads By Global Brands

Previously, adverts were done with the idea of just promoting the brand in the most convenient ways to make them look respectful and worthy in the eyes of people. But with generational changes, unconventional ads became a new possibility for brands to try in their marketing approach. And now, in today’s world of memes and entertaining content that can send a bigger message than just the brand itself, anti-ad marketing is the new trend. It appeals to the aesthetics of Millennials and Gen-Z and it’s just fascinating to see how many boundaries a brand is capable of crossing without it being ‘too much’.

We’ve come up with a list of 20 most liked unconventional ads by Global Brands, including the first-ever anti-ad ever done (in the 1960s!).

1. Burger King – Burn that Ad

Burger King came up with an innovative tactic in Brazil to challenge their competitions and make their customers happy, all in one go. In this campaign, people had to open the Burger King app and point it toward a poster of their main competitors (McDonald’s) and witness an augmented reality where their poster would burn off. Revealing underneath the fire would be a Burger King announcement of the customer to have won a free Whopper, instructing them to visit the nearest Burger King restaurant.

2. Samsung – Ryan Reynolds; 6 Underground

Audience’s most loved actor, Ryan Reynolds did something only he can do, in an advert in 2019. While playing a part in a Samsung QLED ad, he made an ad inside an ad. What starts as him advertising his upcoming Netflix show, goes on to be an overview of the new Samsung smart TV and then promotes his gin brand. Advertising 3 things at once and getting away with it is something I’d call unconventional.

3. Netflix + Baskin Robbins – Scoops Ahoy

Netflix’s Stranger Things Season 3 showed us a new look at ‘bad boy’ Steve when he started working at Scoops Ahoy. To promote the release of the new season, Netflix and Baskin Robbins worked together to bring the fictional ice cream franchise to life.

4. Gillette – The Best a Man Can Be

In light of the recent ‘Me Too’ movement against harassment, Gillette came up with a new advert ‘we believe: the best men can be’, encouraging men to be more sensitive and better. The advert caused rage and praise all in an amount from the audience.

5. Black Mirror – New Season Posters

2020 is the year every t.v show and movie predicted when they showed the world to be in chaos. And no one has ever done it better than Black Mirror. So no one was surprised, albeit everyone was impressed, when they released posters for Season 6 advertising how “You’re living in it”, indicating the threats of a world war, a global pandemic, and the BLA movement, all happening at once.

6. Hinge – The Dating App Designed to be Deleted

2020 is the year every t.v show and movie predicted when they showed the world to be in chaos. And no one has ever done it better than Black Mirror. So no one was surprised, albeit everyone was impressed, when they released posters for Season 6 advertising how “You’re living in it”, indicating the threats of a world war, a global pandemic, and the BLA movement, all happening at once.

7. Volkswagen – Think Small

Known as the greatest ad ever made that changed the face of advertising, Volkswagen was the first company to come up with an unconventional campaign to promote its 1960 Beetle. While their competitors were building big cars, the Volkswagen Beetle was small and made by a German company in a recent post World War era, meaning dislike from the audience. But their ‘think small’ campaign didn’t just make the audience relate emotionally with Beetle, it also increased its sales and made the campaign so unique that even after 5 decades, no one has been able to come up with something even close to it.

8. Selfridges – No Noise Project

The English store, Selfridges, brought back its Silent Room for their No Noise Project. The objective of this project was to give the customers a space to find an escape from the loud vibe surrounding the holiday season. They even removed their logos from products as part of the campaign. Customers were asked to leave their shopping bags and cell phone devices outside before entering the room.

9. Oatly – Milk but Made for Humans

The Swedish company, Oatly, introduced a campaign for people who prefer milk alternatives ‘Milk But for Humans’. The campaign received a lot of criticism and even prompted a lawsuit from Dennish farmers. This suit ended up soaring the product’s sales, working as an advantage for the brand itself.

10. Doritos – Another Level

Doritos got onto the anti-ad bandwagon by removing their logos and taglines and replacing them with blank chips bags, looking to appeal Gen-Z. The new tagline says “Another Level” urging the youth to take what the love to the next level. The idea behind this campaign was that Doritos is popular enough to not need logos or overt advertisements.

11. Burger King – Escape the Clown

To promote the sequel to the movie IT, Burger King made a campaign #EscapetheClown, targeting their competitor McDonald’s clown mascot. Customers had to open the Burger King app at the competitor’s restaurant, spot the clown with their camera and then escape to the nearest Burger King, and get a Whopper for 1 cent.

12. Bugatti – La Voiture Noire

Bugatti takes a look at their history of building the first Atlantic, La Voiture Noire, the campaign talks about how the one-of-a-kind Bugatti was lost in the chaos of the war. The advert starts the story of a legendary car and highlights how it’s back to rule on the roads. It’s an elegant look combining past and present in perfect balance.

13. Tetley – Now We’re Talking

Tetley’s rebrand explored the message of ‘togetherness’ visibly showing a cat and dog coming together and seeing past their differences over a cup of Tetley Tea.

14. Coke Zero – Drinkable Ad

Coca Cola, always known for its unique advertising, came up with a ‘Drinkable Ad’ campaign to promote its new Coke Zero drink. The idea was that people would be able to drink coke whenever and wherever they felt thirsty, they just need to have access to a screen.

15. Society of Professional Journalism – Fake News

An advert featuring journalists talks about how ‘Fake News’ is now trademarked. And if from now on President Donald Trump uses the term ‘fake news’ to discredit real journalists, he will violate the trademark and will have to answer for it. The advert directs people to the link FakeNewsTM.com which reports tips on how fake news can be spotted and what journalists are doing to report real news.

16. Ikea – Silence the Critics

Ikea made a Christmas ad where witty Christmas decorations taunted a family to get repairs done to their home

17. Patagonia – Don’t Buy

Patagonia made a ‘Don’t Buy’ campaign for its products during the Black Friday sale in attempts to promote the idea behind decreasing consumerism, and increasing the idea of recycling and reusing products.

18. Netflix – The Professor and One

Netflix did a crossover ad to promote new seasons of two shows, Money Heist and 6 Underground. The promo shows the main characters of both the shows, One and The Professor, talking with each other on a phone call and discuss borrowing team members for a mission.

19. Pepsi Pakistan – Ramadan Ad

Every year in Ramadan Pepsi Pakistan comes up with some unique adverts and in 2017 they took it up a notch by sharing a fictional story of a village without electricity and how every member comes together to make bulbs inside empty Pepsi bottles. The initiative was to reinforce the practice of donating.

20. Stone Brewery – Leave No Stone Unturned

This July, Stone Brewing supplied all its products with the labels turned upside down. The idea is to promote the message that the brewery is going to ‘leave no stone unturned’ when it comes to delivering high-quality products.

So these are our Top 20 picks when it comes to unconventional ads. Watch them, research some more, and create your ideas of how you intend to promote your brand with an anti-ad approach!