Our latest Campaigns of the Month column covers January, including Droga5’s lamb ad, a Cher ‘Special’ for Uber Eats, and Kia’s zombie apocalypse spot by Innocean.
Our friends at System1 have tested the ads with punters and B&T has enlisted award winning creative and Hellions partner Elle Bullen and Paper Moose creative director Jeremy Willmott.
Make sure you check out December’s top spots and our Campaigns of the Month Christmas special, which takes aim at five Christmas crackers from Telstra, Woolworths, Aldi, AAMI and Myer.
You can find B&T’s Campaign of the Month columns here.
Meat & Livestock Australia, ‘The Comments Section’, By Droga5
System1 Report
Filled with satire, cultural references and bold character interactions, the 2025 Australian Lamb ad returned with a solid Star Rating and exceptional short-term sales potential. Embracing what System1’s Orlando Wood calls “right brained” features, prioritising storytelling over product messaging, it engages emotions for lasting business impact. While hilarious, the ad risks misattribution, as branding isn’t introduced until 2 minutes and 20 seconds in. With audience attention fleeting, ensuring brand presence early is key to maximising its emotional and commercial impact.
What creatives said:
Elle Bullen: Absolute banger. Following in the footsteps of bangers past is no mean feat, but lamb has done it again. Very clever, very self-aware, and the self-referential posters were a highlight. They’ve landed on such a spiky truth with the comments section, and I know everybody reading this knows just how relatable that is.
Jeremy Willmott: This ad really spoke to me. I mean it literally says at the end “I hope people post nice comments about this ad”. But more than that, there’s an in-joke here that speaks to the advertising industry and the toxic commentary we have about our own work. I should know, I spent a good couple of years campaigning for an end to all that nonsense with Love Our Work. So, yes, this ad spoke to me. What unfolds is a ‘funny cause it’s true’ ad that explores the many facets of online commentary and the ridiculousness of it all. And I was there for it. It’s a great ad. Well written and well executed.
I do have a couple of gripes though, but I’ll be nice. Firstly, the product shot doesn’t appear until over 2 mins into this ad. Of course I’m reviewing the director’s cut, the piece of content with no media spend behind it and forever locked behind the logins of the creative team’s portfolio sites. I’m sure we get to the product quicker in the 30 but you can literally hear the client feedback in the ad asking us to “EAT MORE LAMB”. We shouldn’t be afraid to show our distinctive brand assets early as it can often affect the ad’s performance.
Secondly, I feel like this brief is getting a bit muttony. I mean, I get it. We’re a nation divided, but we come together over lamb. We’ve seen this division played out by generation, culture, religion, a physical wall and now the comments section. But, surely there’s another insight to work from? Otherwise we’ll be facing down the barrel of the same ad, told in different ways, ad infinitum, right?
“So, c’mon Australia, isn’t it time we found a different way to get us to eat lamb? … EAT MORE LAMB!”
Uber Eats, Turn Back Thyme, Special
System1 Report
Uber Eats has proven that they deliver (nearly) everything with a unique twist, featuring Cher as she delivers a time machine to “Turn Back Time.” This is a fantastic example of the short-term benefits of star power, earning an exceptional Spike Rating. Uber Eats has also leveraged Cher strategically; stars are most effective when placed in a context that feels natural and familiar. Here, she plays herself while referencing her own song title, driving a strong Star Rating. For brands looking to incorporate famous faces, take a page from Uber Eats’ playbook and prioritise authenticity over scripted testimonials.
What creatives said:
Elle Bullen: I’ll admit, the $3.20 quarter chicken and chips I had delivered when this campaign sent uber eats prices back to the 80’s may have greased my palms for this review. Literally. A chicken salt laden high five and hats off for this one. You had me at Cher, the time travel blunder was a bonus, and a witch hunt spurred by an age-defying face would have sealed the deal even without the genius promo attached. This campaign is equally entertaining and smart, and so well considered at every touch point.
Whoever got Cher to agree to that script deserves a pay rise*.
*2025 prices please.
Jeremy Willmott: Cher, in an ad for Uber Eats? Stop it. I loved this ad on so many levels. We start with Cher in the kitchen humming one of her tunes “If I could turn back time”. She wonders if she can, perhaps, order a time machine on Uber Eats. What then see what that might look like, the only snag being she ends up in the 1680s instead of the 1980s. Brilliant. After getting cast as a witch she’s burned at the stake and as the flames lick around her she deadpans “This is ridiculous”. It is ridiculous but so much fun.
The stand out moment for me is when an old crone leans in to look closely at Cher’s face to claim “She’s both young and old at the same time.” Good on Cher for signing this off. It shows her in a great light by poking fun at herself. The ‘Almost, almost anything’ platform keeps on delivering corkers like this and does a great job at reinforcing a key message about the brand. The only question from me is who on earth can possibly follow Cher for the next ad?
Kia, ‘Shhh, It’s Zombie Proof’, by Innocean
System1 Report
Kia’s ad leads in brand attribution with a strong fluency score, thanks to its central product feature driving a creative and engaging story. Its polarising narrative cuts the category average for neutrality by 10%, boosting commercial impact, which is key as The Extraordinary Cost of Dull highlights, since neutrality stifles consumer action. Though its Star Rating is low due to divisiveness, the ad is poised to drive immediate consumer response.
What creatives said:
Elle Bullen: This is refreshingly simple and gets to do that wonderful, rare thing of dramatizing a single message that AWARD school promised we’d get to do way than we actually do. Zombies, however, feel less fresh. It might be a new way to talk about EV’s, but it’s a very familiar trope. As far as PG friendly Walking Dead spin off’s go though, we’ve seen worse. This has a well told story with some nice narrative moments that make it an enjoyable, if not revolutionary 90 seconds.
Jeremy Willmott: Everyone was having fun in this ad. I had fun. It’s a zombie apocalypse ad, for Kia, for Pete’s sake. This ad follows in a long line of making up legally safe claims for your brand (I’m looking at you Budget Direct and your lightsaber wielding, chaos wrecking, dog). In this case we’re saying that Kia is zombie proof. Sure. Why not? It’s a fun concept and there’s heaps of little easter eggs for those with a keen eye. Like a zombie wearing socks and crocs, and a crop top that says “I woke up like this”…. nice.
My only issue with this ad is that I didn’t get the concept until the very end when the line came up. It turns out, the reason a Kia is zombie proof is that it’s an EV and therefore operates quietly. I’m pretty sure that ‘quietness’ is a category claim rather than something Kia can own but hey I can forgive that for selling in a zombie apocalypse ad.
Having a train rush past and music blaring from the car’s speakers didn’t help me understand the premise. But if the need for quietness had been established at the start they could have had more fun with the gags, Shaun of the Dead style, making them work tightly with the idea. The toy squeak at the end should have been a huge moment in the ad but it didn’t land because of all the other sounds that had already happened in the ad.
Whilst I thought this ad was engaging and came into its own on repeat views, I’m not sure if the message is compelling or what it will do for the brand.
