Ad Nut's favourite campaigns of 2025 so far

There are more ads than ever, and with AI, they’re being produced faster than you can blink. Honestly, many are easy to miss. But a few campaigns this year have managed to wake Ad Nut from an otherwise cashew-induced coma.

 

Cutting through the noise is tougher than ever, yet the ads that stand out usually tell powerful stories, strike an emotional chord, and aren’t machine-made. Humans, and squirrels as it turns out, still connect best with work created by humans. Now that we’re over halfway through the year, here’s Ad Nut’s pick of the best campaigns so far.

 

Campaign: 'Don’t Let Anyone Devalue Your Car'

Client: Roddonjai 

Agency: VML Group Thailand

 

 

Movie parody ads have become a rising trend this year, and this spot adds a cinematic twist to the everyday frustrations of selling a used car in today’s chaotic digital world.

 

The ad’s central character, inspired by the fictional action star John Wick, captures the feeling of selling a used car on social media, a real battlefield. As netizens constantly haggle for lower prices, the John Wick figure fends off their attacks with giant sharpened pencils. A clever cameo by a Mark Zuckerberg lookalike highlights the frustrating visibility restrictions on the platform.

 

The message is clear: on Roddonjai, your car won’t be devalued. Smart move using a well-known character for instant recognition. And Ad Nut awards bonus points for the cheeky jab at Zuckerberg.

 

Campaign: 'Destroy Valentine's Day'

Client: Cadbury 5 Star

Agency: Ogilvy

 

 

Nothing cuts through clutter like good old-fashioned humour, and this one nailed it by unleashing the ‘uncles.’ Ogilvy’s clever insight was that nothing killed a trend faster than ‘uncles’ adopting it. From skinny jeans to TikTok dances, youth dropped the trend the moment uncles jumped on board. So they did the same with Valentine’s Day.

 

Cadbury 5 Star flipped the script by spending its entire Valentine’s Week budget to make uncles the face of romance. They paid older couples to go on dates, flooded social media with mushy, uncle-style love stories, and made Valentine’s Day so cringe-worthy that even die-hard romantics wanted to bail.

 

Ad Nut had been feeling unloved lately, so this one got all our love. Simply genius.

 

Campaign: 'Made For Down Under'

Client: Bonds

Agency: Special

 

 

Robert Irwin, nature’s golden boy, sits calmly with a python draped over one arm while a crocodile casually creeps up from the lawn, like it just popped by for a beer. All this, to sell men’s underwear... what’s not to love?

 

Visually striking yet refreshingly simple, there’s no CGI or green screens, just real snakes, real spiders, one very real crocodile named Elvis, and one real human. Irwin has brought the wild side to men’s undies advertising, taking the “conservative” out of conservation. Honestly, Ad Nut is loving it.

 

Campaign: 'My Dog Twin' 

Client: JTBC

Agency: Cheil Worldwide

 

 

In an era dominated by selfie obsession, this campaign gave Ad Nut hope that snapping endless selfies might serve a meaningful purpose beyond pure narcissism, by matching people with shelter dogs.

 

South Korea has over 80,000 abandoned dogs, with numbers spiking during the holidays. That’s a lot of potential squirrel-chasers running free. For the sake of Ad Nut’s right to roam the streets fearlessly, maybe an adoption drive isn’t such a bad idea.

 

Ad Nut hopes these pups find loving homes, and that selfies finally get a truly worthwhile use.

 

Campaign: 'Good Different'

Client: Aldi Australia 

Agency: BMF

 

 

Breaking the mould of typical supermarket ads, Aldi Australia and BMF ditch the fluorescent aisles for the bush in this cheeky twist on grocery advertising, which instantly appealed to this perennial fan of the outdoors. 

 

No one wants to spend ages hunting through shelves, comparing labels, or second-guessing their hummus choice. Aldi keeps it simple by stocking only the very best, that’s the clear message here.

 

There’s no flashy shelf-stacking or competitive posturing, just a subtle, satisfying reminder that quality isn’t a scavenger hunt when everything is already carefully chosen. It’s refreshing when brands break free from the usual retail clichés and take a smarter, more original approach—this campaign proves it works.

 

Campaign: 'The Lost Bills'

Client: Samsung

Agency: BBDO Bangkok

 

 

Energy-saving ads are rarely memorable, let alone entertaining. But this campaign stood out to Ad Nut, as a sharp example of how to break free from a tired category.

 

Samsung’s SmartThings app takes a wildly inventive approach, ditching the usual finger-wagging about energy savings. Instead, it dives into surrealism by reimagining electricity bills as three lost children, each named Bill, stranded in a ‘lost and found’ department. Each Bill tells a story of how they disappeared: one when the fridge door was left open, another when the TV blared nonstop, and a third thanks to a rogue air conditioner. These clever metaphors highlight how careless energy use lets money slip away.

 

It’s a wonderfully weird idea, and the kind of lightly surreal work that has come to define Thailand’s creative scene. The country continues to impress at regional and global awards by blending humour and absurdity with unmatched precision and ease.

 

Campaign: 'The Truth About Long Line Fishing'

Client: Greenpeace

Agency: Photoplay

 

 

With so many empty ads pushing hollow products these days, Ad Nut is always encouraged to see campaigns that address real issues with the potential for meaningful impact.

 

This animated film from Greenpeace Australia delivers a powerful reminder of the devastating effects of longline fishing on marine ecosystems, especially its threat to blue sharks, the most common victims of bycatch along Australia’s coast. The simple narration and illustrative style clearly show how sharks become unintended casualties.

 

The animation blends hand-drawn characters with a textured digital collage made from ink techniques, riso printing, and found imagery. As the story unfolds, the visuals grow more intense, reflecting the harsh reality of longline fishing. Ad Nut was particularly struck by how effectively the simple artwork conveyed the innocence of the baby shark, enhanced beautifully by a lilting score from Jackson Milas of Sonar Music.

 

Campaign: 'Virgins Wanted'

Client: Jetpac

Agency: Ballsy

 

 

It’s not every day Ad Nut sees an ad boldly calling for ‘Virgins Wanted.’ At first, it wasn’t clear where this daring campaign was headed. But it’s based on the insight that nearly a quarter of American adults and 15% of Brits have never travelled abroad for a holiday.

 

Instead of targeting seasoned globetrotters or influencers, Jetpac and creative agency Ballsy chose to celebrate the magic, and awkwardness, of seeing the world for the first time. It’s a perfect fit for Jetpac, which promotes its eSIM as fuss-free travel tech, turning the product into a rite of passage for travel newbies.

 

With cheeky lines like ‘Time to Pop Your Cherry,’ the campaign challenges commuters to scan a QR code and consider their own travel debut—powered by Jetpac’s eSIM, naturally. Audacious and unfiltered, this provocative approach stands out in today’s algorithm-driven landscape, making it impossible to ignore.

 

Campaign: 'Men's Health Is A Big Deal'

Client: Noah

Agency: BBH Singapore

 

 

Turns out 60% of men avoid talking about sexual health. So how do you get blokes chatting about their bits and pieces? Simple, you place a pair of giant inflatable balls right in the middle of Hong Kong’s iconic harbourfront.

 

Locals have long joked that some skyscrapers look suspiciously phallic. Now, with these colossal inflatables floating by on a barge branded “Men’s health is a big deal,” the city’s skyline got a lot more suggestive, and hilarious.

 

Though the visuals sparked buzz online, the whole stunt was actually created with a bit of VFX magic. But from Ad Nut’s perspective, we love a stunt that’s as bold as it is clever, even if it’s all smoke, mirrors, and pixels.

 

Campaign: 'Marketing Unfiltered with Aunty M'

Client: Google SEA

Agency: The Carrot Collective

 

 

Ad Nut would probably rather sit and split nuts than watch a series about ad solutions. But Google’s episodic series proves that B2B content doesn’t have to be boring.

 

The series stars Aunty M, Singaporean YouTube star Annette Lee, who travels the region, chatting with marketing pros about making the most of Google and YouTube Ads Solutions. Casting Lee was a smart move. Beloved across Southeast Asia for her relatable comedy and entrepreneurial spirit, she bridges the gap between complex ad topics and engaging entertainment.

 

The series proves that not every campaign needs to be a flashy 30-second spot to hold attention. This fresh, entertaining approach makes a dry subject more accessible, with Aunty M adding her signature spark.

 

Ad Nut is a surprisingly literate woodland creature that for unknown reasons has an unhealthy obsession with advertising. Ad Nut gathers ads from all over Asia and the world for your viewing pleasure, because Ad Nut loves you. You can also check out Ad Nut's Advertising Hall of Fame, or read about Ad Nut's strange obsession with 'murderous beasts'.