In presumably one of the final ads to come out of DDB in the UK, this new spot shows why adam&eve came out on top in Omnicom’s DDB-TBWA merger, in this country at least.
TBWA has picked up recently under the leadership of CEO Larissa Vince and CCO Andy Jex, but the agency’s staff are reportedly being moved out of the newish Omnicom complex on London’s South Bank and into the Paddington offices of DDB – establishing just who’s in charge. Quite how the clash of TBWA’s “disruption” mantra and adam&eve’s “feelings first” approach will work together remains to be seen.
Adam&eveDDB has had a lot of fun with the Columbia Sportswear brand, building the “engineered for whatever” platform while maintaining a sense of humour, and this latest spot is up to standard.
Columbia Sportswear CEO, Tim Boyle, has all the credentials to take the lead in this ad – he’s been outspoken in the US about the chaos of tariffs and the “travesty” of Trump’s immigration policy – and he delivers a good performance here, with help from director Benji Weinstein and production company Smuggler.
There’s more to the campaign too, with an open letter published in the New York Times and on the brand’s own channels. Columbia will also join in conversation on Reddit posts and in the comments sections on YouTube and social media.
The spot is more than just a good series of gags. It subtly makes a feature of the clothing, and how it is built to deal with the ends of the earth, without missing a beat.
MAA creative scale: 8
