News
Dan Lutz, managing director of creative, CrowdPharm
October 3, 2022
12:00 pm

Five campaigns that make us smile

Braille Bricks — Lego

Leave it to Lego to put its amazing toy to work, helping visually impaired children learn Braille through play. The beloved toy company introduced Braille Bricks with raised dots that match Braille letters and numbers. Fully compatible with existing Lego toys, they’re totally inclusive for sighted parents, teachers, and fellow students. Wow! The seamless alignment of brand purpose and problem-solving. In marketing, we strive to solve problems. We look for creative ideas that help ill or disabled people navigate everyday challenges. This Lego campaign shares the same spirit and makes learning fun.

The Know-It-Alls — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Upstreamers

Just seeing the title of this campaign makes me laugh, especially in today’s social media environment. We’ve all been there, right? This campaign for the CDC found a clever way to align the know-it-alls (KIAs) with the spread of COVID vaccine misinformation and the importance of fact-checking before sharing information. It reminds us of how we feel after engaging in these unprompted KIA discussions: “What just happened?” Simply striving not to be a KIA helps. The operatic track heightens the character portrayals and their angst when stuck listening to KIAs. It’s something we can all relate to. At least that’s what my non-KIA opinion tells me.

Poopowerment — Garden of Life and Humanaut

I remember seeing this on TV and immediately thinking, “OMG, they did it! They finally broke the ‘can’t-say-poop-on-TV’ taboo.” This is one of my favorites because it’s so well written, and the casting is fantastic. I’m sure the shoot was nonstop joking and general hilarity, but the tongue-in-cheek approach fits the brand. It takes a lot of guts to do something edgy like this. Hats off to the brand and the agency. They let the product lead the charge so that any negative vibes will be forgiven.

Mental Health Awareness — Madhappy

Mental health is a huge challenge, and Madhappy has made it its mission to make the world a more optimistic place. It founded the Madhappy Foundation and recently dropped its first out-of-home awareness campaign during Mental Health Awareness Month with numerous outdoor boards in LA and NYC. What a great idea to raise awareness and make conversations about mental health more accessible and acceptable. And quite frankly, the world needs more optimism right now.

My Cause My Cleats — Lupus Foundation of America

For the seventh consecutive year, the NFL’s My Cause My Cleats initiative returns, where players wear custom-designed cleats to raise awareness and funds supporting charities they care about. Several NFL stars support the Lupus Foundation of America. This one is extra special to me, and I’m happy that so many athletes share their personal expressions of support. The shoes themselves are works of art seen by millions — what better way to raise awareness?

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News

Five campaigns that make us smile

CrowdPharm's managing director of creative Dan Lutz chooses five campaigns that "stand out because they genuinely made [him] feel."

Dan Lutz, managing director of creative, CrowdPharm
October 3, 2022
12:00 pm

Slideshow

Braille Bricks — Lego

Leave it to Lego to put its amazing toy to work, helping visually impaired children learn Braille through play. The beloved toy company introduced Braille Bricks with raised dots that match Braille letters and numbers. Fully compatible with existing Lego toys, they’re totally inclusive for sighted parents, teachers, and fellow students. Wow! The seamless alignment of brand purpose and problem-solving. In marketing, we strive to solve problems. We look for creative ideas that help ill or disabled people navigate everyday challenges. This Lego campaign shares the same spirit and makes learning fun.

The Know-It-Alls — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Upstreamers

Just seeing the title of this campaign makes me laugh, especially in today’s social media environment. We’ve all been there, right? This campaign for the CDC found a clever way to align the know-it-alls (KIAs) with the spread of COVID vaccine misinformation and the importance of fact-checking before sharing information. It reminds us of how we feel after engaging in these unprompted KIA discussions: “What just happened?” Simply striving not to be a KIA helps. The operatic track heightens the character portrayals and their angst when stuck listening to KIAs. It’s something we can all relate to. At least that’s what my non-KIA opinion tells me.

Poopowerment — Garden of Life and Humanaut

I remember seeing this on TV and immediately thinking, “OMG, they did it! They finally broke the ‘can’t-say-poop-on-TV’ taboo.” This is one of my favorites because it’s so well written, and the casting is fantastic. I’m sure the shoot was nonstop joking and general hilarity, but the tongue-in-cheek approach fits the brand. It takes a lot of guts to do something edgy like this. Hats off to the brand and the agency. They let the product lead the charge so that any negative vibes will be forgiven.

Mental Health Awareness — Madhappy

Mental health is a huge challenge, and Madhappy has made it its mission to make the world a more optimistic place. It founded the Madhappy Foundation and recently dropped its first out-of-home awareness campaign during Mental Health Awareness Month with numerous outdoor boards in LA and NYC. What a great idea to raise awareness and make conversations about mental health more accessible and acceptable. And quite frankly, the world needs more optimism right now.

My Cause My Cleats — Lupus Foundation of America

For the seventh consecutive year, the NFL’s My Cause My Cleats initiative returns, where players wear custom-designed cleats to raise awareness and funds supporting charities they care about. Several NFL stars support the Lupus Foundation of America. This one is extra special to me, and I’m happy that so many athletes share their personal expressions of support. The shoes themselves are works of art seen by millions — what better way to raise awareness?

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Especially in this line of work, we all work hard to make an impact on others. Emotion is a key ingredient of much of what we do in healthcare advertising; in fact, it is often the ingredient that resonates most with consumers, patients, doctors and other audiences. These selections stand out because they genuinely made me feel. A grin, laugh or the awed thinking, “Damn, that’s cool,” goes a long way to reinforcing core messages. These ads all did that for me.

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