B&T’s Campaigns of the Month has returned after a lengthy summer sojourn. In this edition, our friends at System1 have tested four incredible campaigns that ran in January.
Forget Christmas, January is fast becoming the month where some of Australia’s best work is landing.
Whether it is fun ads around the Australian Open and the Summer of Cricket or the annual Meat & Livestock Australia lamb ad, brands and ad agencies lifted their game this year.
In the first Campaigns of the Month column of 2026, System1 tested ads for MLA, Uber Eats, Kia, Google Pixel and Slather.
You can check out B&T’s whole Campaign of the Month archive here.
Google Pixel, ‘Excited on the Inside, Emotive
System 1 analysis
Google is the latest brand raiding the sporting A-list to inject a pulse into a category that too often feels built by engineers, for engineers. This time it’s Oscar Piastri fronting Gemini, and it’s doing more than just borrowing fame. It’s outperforming the category by giving people something to feel, not just something to understand.
Orlando Wood has long argued that celebrity works hardest when it amplifies distinctive human traits rather than sanding them down into generic endorsement. That’s exactly the play here. Piastri’s deadpan, almost comically restrained delivery isn’t corrected. It is the creative device. The monotone becomes the punchline.
In a sea of functional sameness, that familiarity and lightness do the emotional heavy lifting. The tech doesn’t shout. It doesn’t over-explain. It simply shows up with a bit of character. And in doing so, it makes a typically cold, utilitarian proposition feel disarmingly human.
Slather, Buy Stuff, SICKDOGWOLFMAN
System 1 analysis
In this unapologetically provocative spot for Slather, a sunburnt Aussie gets his back peeled raw. Predictably, it polarises. Just 15 per cent felt nothing, versus an Australian norm of 37 per cent.
That is emotion deployed with intent. It cuts through. It lodges in memory.
The long-term Star rating may be modest, but emotional intensity is sky high, driving an exceptional short-term sales prediction. Love it or hate it, this is the kind of work that sparks conversation, prompts a Google search and earns its place on shelf when the weather heats up.
Kia, Electric Envy, Innocean
System 1 analysis
Kia has done something rare in automotive: made people feel something.
In a category stuck in low 2-Star territory, awash with product shots, feature callouts and flat backdrops, this is bold, emotional and refreshingly original. A jealous household robot, quietly replaced by the new EV5, turns functional benefit into human drama.
It is also a smart lesson in behavioural messaging for EVs. Where others default to abstract stats and worthy rationality, Kia chooses story over sustainability spiel. Show, don’t tell. The car’s role in modern life becomes tangible through narrative, not numbers.
A subtle nudge. An engaging one. And proof that even “dull” categories do not have to be dull at all.
Uber Eats, Get Almost, Almost Anything with Jim Courier, Special
System 1 analysis
Another brand deploying humour with equal precision is Uber Eats. Here, the joke hinges on wordplay and cultural recognition, casting tennis champion Jim Courier as one of their couriers. It is a simple idea, knowingly silly, and executed with confidence.
The results speak for themselves. The ad performs strongly on both long- and short-term commercial metrics, with Brand Fluency reaching 91 per cent. It is a clear demonstration of how to use star power in service of the brand rather than at its expense.
Too often, celebrity fame eclipses brand fame. Uber Eats avoids that trap by establishing ownership from the outset. The logo sets the scene, the narrative is tightly framed around the brand, and the emphasis is placed firmly on the name, not the fame. The celebrity amplifies what is already distinctive about Uber Eats, ensuring the brand remains front and centre throughout.
MLA, Get Almost, The Happiness List, Droga5
System1 analysis
The top scoring ad comes from Australian Lamb, a brand that consistently demonstrates the commercial power of cultural fluency, humour and bold exaggeration. This year’s instalment sees Australia slip from the global happiness list, prompting increasingly absurd attempts to prove just how joyful the nation really is. The critics remain unmoved until, finally, they taste Australian Lamb.
What makes the work so effective is its commitment to emotion in what is fundamentally a functional category. It refuses to compete on rational claims alone. Instead, it leans decisively into the right-brained creative features Orlando Wood champions in Lemon and Look out: distinctive characters, a vivid sense of place, narrative momentum and, crucially, humour.
Humour remains one of the most potent yet underused drivers of long-term brand growth. Australian Lamb deploy it with confidence and cultural precision, cutting through the category and earning its place as the month’s top performer.
