Top Tips for Cannes
AT&T – “Sleep With Rain”
“Sleep With Rain” is a brilliant fever dream of a campaign, reuniting The Office cast in a mock startup venture to market the ultimate sleep aid: a pillow that talks to you in the dulcet tones of Rainn Wilson. The sheer absurdity of the premise is gold. But what makes this work Cannes-worthy is how it turns chaos into clarity. The campaign isn’t just another nostalgia trip. It’s a demonstration of AT&T Business’ Next Level Network keeping everything running (barely) despite the bedlam of egos. It’s laugh-out-loud funny. But also sneakily strategic. You remember the brand. You remember the message. And you remember the pillow.
Disney – “The Boy & The Octopus”
If there’s one thing you can count on from Disney, it’s the ability to make you laugh and cry in under two minutes. The Boy & The Octopus is a masterclass in storytelling restraint, a holiday ad that skips the schmaltz and swaps out sleigh bells for sincerity. Directed by Taika Waititi, the spot opens with a wonderfully weird twist: a boy wakes up to find an octopus stuck to his head. The magic is in what follows – a friendship forms, a life adapts, and a quiet, human reveal turns the whole thing into something truly heartfelt. There’s no product push. No IP flex. Just classic Disney charm with a modern emotional core. At a time when most holiday spots crank up the sentiment and snow, this one strips it all back and earns the emotion.
Apple – “Severance: The Cube”
Leave it to Apple to transform the morning commute into performance art. To promote Severance Season 2, Apple dropped a full-blown immersive Lumon office cube – complete with cubicles, desks, and, oh yeah, the actual cast in character – in the middle of Grand Central Station. This is more than a PR splash. It’s layered world-building that brings the show’s unsettling duality to life in a place where work and transit already blur the boundaries of identity. Commuters didn’t just see Adam Scott and Patricia Arquette, they saw Mark S. vacuuming. They felt the eerie normalcy of the Lumon world. And that’s what makes this more than clever. It’s chillingly clever.
Michael Ruby is President & CCO of Oakland agency Park & Battery.
