Colin Selikow

Skittles took away Lime Skittles 9 years ago. It didn’t go well. It generated a decade of social anger and hatred toward the brand for taking away a beloved flavor. To announce we were bringing Lime back, we turned to an unlikely source – all that brand negativity. Because nothing shows how much people love something like their anger when it’s taken away.

For years, the Samsung brand had been stuck talking features and technology. The problem was, unlike brands like Apple, people didn’t feel anything for the brand. To launch their new global brand platform we utilized something far more powerful than hardware…emotion. Using a universal story of technology helping us achieve the impossible, but telling it in a way that people could actually feel.

Coors light’s campaign is all about creating Chill. And with the planet heating up at record rates, it was an opportunity to demonstrate that in a real and purposeful way for the brand. So we created billboards that no one could see, but everyone could feel. Using a specially developed white paint that reflected heat to turn our outdoor media into something that did something about the issue rather than just talking about it.

We analyzed what consumers found most recognizable about Twix, and discovered it was the 2 identical bars. Each equally delicious. So we told that story in a perfectly dark way. The story perfectly mirroring the product.

The Super Bowl is one of the most crowded marketing stages, with every brand screaming for attention. So how do you compete when you have a fraction of the budget? You go to a completely different stage altogether.

For Twix’s new global platform, we tapped into the universal truth that social media creates a perfectly curated version of reality that is impossible to live up to, leaving younger consumers often feeling underwhelmed with experiences. We brought that truth to life with simple, repeatable stories of the more-ness of Twix (the candy with 2 bars instead of the standard 1) delivering when unrealistic expectations mean life (and facial hair) doesn’t.

The Super Bowl is a media environment with so many brands shouting for consumers attention. So how do you get people to notice your idea? By not showing it to them.

A simple Google search sparked a simple idea. We discovered every picture of the very first Pride march in 1970 was in black and white. As a brand all about the rainbow, we saw an opportunity to give the color and vibrancy of that first Pride march back to the community forever.

How do you talk about a new, straw-shaped Starburst that you eat vertically? You frame it as the first Starburst that’s vertical and so, like almost everything on our phones, is optimized for mobile. And then you launch it in a way that can only be experienced vertically, with a mobile-only, vertical only experience and a 100% mobile media buy. A vertical candy launched with an idea that only makes sense vertically.

The best way to explain an unusual product like yoghurt-covered Skittles is a simple product demo. But how do you do a product demo in a way that is weird enough to be true to the Skittles brand voice?

Budweiser owns the Superbowl. So much so that Coors is barred from advertising in or around the event. But there is one space Budweiser couldn’t bar us from advertising – your dreams. So, partnering with a Harvard neuroscientist we created the first ever Superbowl ad that runs in your subconscious.

For Starburst Airs, the first Starburst that is puffy and airy, we created a launch experience that mirrored the product experience in a spectacular way. A full-scale inflatable store where people could buy and experience the product at the same time.

The COVID epidemic had just hit. People were trapped in their homes. While every brand was sending thoughts and sympathy, social media told us they were looking for something different. A post from 93-year-old Olive Veranessi from Pennsylvania showed us exactly what they truly needed…beer. So we sent her some. And we sent a 6 pack to everyone else in the country too. Because when things really bad, sometimes you just need a beer.

Christmas is full of traditions: Santa, elves, Christmas music. But when you think about it, they’re all for kids. What about young beer drinking adults? So Coors, the brand that owns the feeling of Chill, created the coolest new holiday tradition just for adults - The Holiday Beerman. A new, infinitely more chill Christmas character equipped with everything an adult might need come the holidays – beer and some classic rock. Suck it elf on the shelf.

Young people just weren’t getting vaccinated. If the fear of death couldn’t motivate them, what could? As summer arrived, Coors found something that just might motivate them to get vaccinated…getting lucky. On social “Vaxed and Waxed” was the new hot girl summer motto of 2021. So we created an actual spa where they could get everything they needed for summer – cold beer, COVID vaccinations and full-body waxing.

The Healthcare category is pretty devoid of humor. Overly serious and pretty dry. Instead of seeing those as limitations, we saw them as an opportunity for United Healthcare to use humor to stand out in a crowded, but pretty boring category. We created a campaign that used the universal Medical Billing Codes to show the insane ways you can end up in the healthcare system, and how United could help. A humorous Cannes Gold Lion winning campaign in a category that needed a shot of it.

The Art Institute: Unthink Magritte

An art exhibit as disruptive as the art itself.

McDonalds Academy Awards

Creating an Academy Awards film and game with all the right ingredients.