Welcome to The Wishlist

At Refinery, we love great creative! So much so that every month, our creative team sit down to chat about amazing work they wish they had made.

What’s the topic?

Every session has a topic and this month’s was brave or disruptive creative.

Want to join the discussion? Take a seat, grab a brew and let’s get wishing!

1. GiffGaff

First up is GiffGaff and their new positioning ‘up to no good’.

We wish we’d made this campaign because it’s full of attitude and confidence. It’s such a clever way to tell GiffGaff’s customers what they’re doing to help them through the cost-of-living crisis as well as saying why it’s better than other providers. Not to mention the TV spot is beautifully shot and the line is the perfect balance between confidence and smugness.

Watch the campaign here

2. Nikon

Source: Nikon Peru

Source: Nikon Peru

Next is Nikon’s answer to AI-generated imagery. We wish we’d made this because it simply states that the real world is spectacular enough on its own without the help of AI. As a creative bunch ourselves, we have experienced the power of AI, but this campaign reminded us that not everything needs computer-generated help; our ideas are just as, if not more, powerful alone.

Watch the campaign here

3. Taco Bell

How could we talk about disruptive creative without including Taco Bell’s Blackout?

We wish we’d created this idea because it was literally disruptive. Taco Bell wanted to get people using its app, so they created a blackout. By shutting down communications through its comms channels, it sparked conversation on social and used FOMO (fear of missing out) to drive people to the new app.

Watch the campaign here

4. Netflix

We wish we’d created this idea because it was literally disruptive. Taco Bell wanted to get people using its app, so they created a blackout. By shutting down communications through its comms channels, it sparked conversation on social and used FOMO (fear of missing out) to drive people to the new app.

Watch the campaign here

5. LEGO

LEGO know how to do print, and these ads are proof of that. We wish we’d come up with these ideas because they’re so simple yet so effective. Single-minded and considered, nothing on either page is superfluous, everything is working hard, and you just get it straight away. It takes bravery for executions to be this clean and simple.

See the campaign images here

5. Burger King

A mouldy burger? To sell burgers? Huh?

This is arguably the bravest idea in the Wishlist this month. It was shocking and sparked a lot of conversation. Burger King did what McDonald’s just couldn’t do to crown their food the freshest of them all. We wish we’d made this because it was so effective in changing negative perceptions of Burger King by highlighting what sets them apart from other chains.

Watch this campaign here

What are you wishing for?

As creatives we know it’s often tricky to get disruptive, brave creative over the line, but these are a few brands who left us saying: I wish!

Want brave and disruptive creative for your own brand? Find out what our creative services team can do for you.