Boards of Canada prove mystery still works
After 13 years of silence, Boards of Canada have returned with Inferno, and the marketing campaign has been almost more compelling than the release itself (out May 29th).
Instead of flooding social feeds with trailers, teasers and pre-save links, the duo have gone in the opposite direction. Cryptic posters have appeared in cities around the world, VHS tapes have been randomly mailed, fragments of music have surfaced online without explanation, and fans have spent weeks decoding clues scattered across forums, Reddit threads and YouTube comments.
The campaign reached another level this month with the announcement of a series of global listening sessions ahead of the album’s release, turning what could have been a standard launch into something closer to a shared underground event.
What makes it interesting from a marketing perspective is how defiantly anti-algorithmic it feels. There’s no obvious content cadence, no influencer rollout and no constant demand for attention. Instead, the campaign relies on atmosphere, scarcity and community participation, giving fans just enough information to pull each other deeper into the mystery.
In a digital landscape where most brands compete to be seen everywhere at once, Boards of Canada have done the opposite: they’ve made people search.
And that’s precisely why everyone’s talking about it.
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IKEA Bags a New Perspective
IKEA Sweden’s campaign FRAKTA Point-Of-You reframes its iconic FRAKTA - IKEA’s large, blue, reusable shopping bag - as a literal visual device, showing everyday life from the perspective of looking out through the bag itself. Rolled out across out-of-home and digital placements in Sweden, the work turns the FRAKTA into a framing system, where pigeons, washing lines and sky trails become part of a consistent IKEA “window” on the world.
Rather than promoting the bag through traditional product messaging, the campaign leans on the idea that the FRAKTA is already culturally embedded in everyday life. By turning a simple utility object into the lens through which scenes are viewed, IKEA elevates it into a recognisable creative platform, reinforcing its design philosophy of functionality, simplicity and universality.
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Fireball Takes a Shot at Saving the Dad Bod
Fireball’s Father’s Day campaign declares the “dad bod” an endangered species, warning it’s under threat from gym culture, protein shakes and six-pack supremacy. In true Fireball fashion, it leans fully into chaos with the “Dad Bod Whisky Fanny Pack” - a novelty beer-belly wearable stuffed with whisky shots, built to look like the ultimate tribute to dad energy.
Framed like a ridiculous public service announcement, the campaign asks America to “save the dad bod,” treating it with mock urgency while escalating the joke at every turn. It blurs the line between satire, product drop and cultural commentary, using humour and shock value to turn a Father’s Day idea into something loud, weird and instantly shareable.
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Instagram Gets Real With Instants
Instagram has launched Instants, a new feature for sharing disappearing in-app photos with Close Friends or mutual followers. The feature removes editing tools and camera roll uploads, pushing more spontaneous, low-pressure sharing similar to BeReal or Snapchat.
The update reflects Instagram’s wider shift towards private, casual interaction over polished public posting -another sign that platforms are prioritising authenticity and real-time engagement.
PETA’s Cheeky Rebrand of Veganism
PETA’s latest campaign takes a deliberately provocative route to promote plant-based eating - linking veganism to improved sexual performance through surreal fight scenes, exaggerated masculinity, and plenty of innuendo. Created with Samy Alliance, the spots frame better cardiovascular health as the key to “better performance”, using shock value and humour to make the message impossible to scroll past.
Rather than leading with ethics or sustainability, the campaign reframes veganism through virality, pop culture, and male insecurity - targeting audiences that would typically ignore traditional vegan messaging. It’s loud, chaotic, slightly absurd, and very intentionally built for social conversation.
Strongbow Bottles Britishness
Strongbow’s new Refreshing the Nation campaign turns Britain’s regional slang into the hero - celebrating the different ways people across the UK express satisfaction after that first sip. Featuring everything from pubs and parks to seagulls and sideways rain, the campaign leans heavily into Britishness, pairing hyper-local language with documentary-style visuals and a soundtrack from The Streets.
The campaign spans TV, OOH and digital, with over 50 region-specific posters tailored to local dialects across the UK. Rather than chasing polished “premium” branding, Strongbow embraces something more grounded: real accents, everyday humour, and the messy familiarity of British culture.
LinkedIn’s Attack on AI Slop
LinkedIn is updating its feed to cut down on what’s increasingly being called “AI slop” - generic, low-effort AI-generated posts and comments.
Content that looks automated or templated will be ranked lower. Posts with clear human experience and original insight will be prioritised in a bid to curate authentic and less cluttered feeds.
Air Transat Cashes In on World Cup’s Sky-High Prices
Air Transat’s latest campaign taps into one of the biggest conversations around the 2026 World Cup: the absurd cost of tickets. The reactive campaign compares the price of actual match tickets with return flights to the countries fans support - revealing that in some cases, it’s cheaper to fly abroad than attend a game.
Rather than forcing itself into tournament hype through sponsorships or football clichés, the airline responds directly to a live cultural moment people are already complaining about online. Using real-time pricing data and reactive OOH, Air Transat positions itself inside the conversation - turning collective frustration into something clever, timely and highly shareable.
Walkers Drops New Flavour Filled TikTok Gameshow
Walkers has reimagined Do Us a Flavour as a TikTok-native gameshow, fronted by creator Poppy O’Toole. The original idea - asking the public to invent new crisp flavours - is now structured as episodic content, where entries, reactions and challenges are turned into short-form entertainment rather than a one-off competition mechanic. Humour runs throughout, with creators reacting, riffing and escalating the best (and worst) flavour ideas.
Built for social momentum, the campaign blends influencer-led content with mass participation: creators prompt their audiences to submit ideas, while users flood TikTok with flavours, jokes and duets that feed back into the show. It becomes a loop of submission, reaction and amplification, with comedy and chaos keeping it constantly active rather than static.
Marlboro Gets Burnt by Branding Backlash
Philip Morris International’s global “I AM Marlboro” campaign has sparked controversy for reframing the cigarette brand around identity, lifestyle and self-expression, with critics arguing it risks appealing to younger audiences despite strict tobacco advertising regulations. Rather than focusing on the product, the campaign builds a broader cultural narrative across digital and out-of-home channels, positioning Marlboro as a statement of identity. This has been further criticised in light of Philip Morris’s claims that it is moving away from cigarette sales, with the campaign seen by some as undermining that stance and weakening brand trust.
The backlash highlights a clear rule in modern branding: identity-led storytelling only works when it fits a brand’s cultural position. In some categories it builds strong emotional connection and consistency, but in regulated or sensitive industries it becomes risky when the brand moves beyond what it is expected or allowed to represent, increasing scrutiny and damaging credibility.
The Ordinary Repackages Beauty Industry Lies
The Ordinary’s Markup Marché pop-up supermarket, launched across six global cities, takes direct aim at the beauty industry it operates in by recreating everyday grocery items as absurd “luxury” products with inflated skincare-style branding. A banana becomes a “glow-enhancing vitality orb,” exposing how language and positioning alone can inflate perceived value.
By physically staging these exaggerations in a real-world retail environment, the campaign makes its critique experiential rather than conceptual. It reinforces The Ordinary’s core brand promise - transparency and value - by letting audiences feel the contrast between genuine products and marketing hype. In doing so, it strengthens brand trust, sharpens differentiation in a crowded skincare market, and positions The Ordinary not just as a critic of industry excess, but as the most credible alternative to it.
TikTok’s New £3.99 Question: Ads or Privacy?
TikTok has introduced a £3.99 monthly option in the UK that removes in-app ads, while free users continue to see personalised advertising.
The move sits within a wider “pay for privacy” trend across platforms, where users either accept ad targeting or pay to opt out - gradually splitting audiences into ad-free subscribers and ad-supported free users.
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