From that kisscam to Nutella’s Nasa flight, are these the best ever ‘accidental ads’?
Image Via Nasa Artemis II mission
For this week’s edition of Agency Advice, ad execs pick their favorite-ever ads-that-aren’t ads and give us a crash course on bringing them to life.
It doesn’t exactly have a name and it’s not exactly new, but there’s a kind of marketing that’s all the rage right now: keep an eye on social and other channels for a benign mention. Amplify for all it’s worth. Profit.
Case in point: a jar of Nutella gracefully floating past an astronaut during the Nasa Artemis II mission last week. Or, the week before, the Great KitKat Heist that generated so much chat about the chocolate bar that it looked like an April Fool’s hoax (it wasn’t). Or there’s the case of United Airlines buying a Reddit user a shedload of Pokémon cards.
You get the idea. All these cases are different, but they share a quality of collapsing the traditional divisions between marketing activities. Part-PR, part-social, part-newjacking: call them ‘accidental ads’ or a smart comms strategy, it’s emerging as one of the most powerful tools in the modern brand arsenal.
But what are the best examples – both historical and recent? And what are the rules of the game for marketers lucky enough to find themselves in a position to try? We asked leading creatives and strategists.
Jay Davis, senior creative strategist, Seen Presents:
“Let’s rewind to July 2024, when an Australian bodysurfer was swept over a kilometer out to sea. Unable to swim back against the current, he used his Apple Watch Ultra to call the emergency services. In an era where most ‘accidental ads’ fetishize speed, Apple did the opposite. It showed restraint. The story traveled globally as news first, not marketing. Apple didn’t rush to respond or try to shape it. The product had already done the work. All too often, brands trip over themselves to ‘own the moment,’ mistaking movement for progress. But not every moment needs a voice. In fact, adding one too early can weaken it. The best accidental ads don’t shout. They don’t need to.”