In this op-ed, Josh Gurgiel, head of creative at oOh!media, counts down six of his favourite global OOH executions from the first half of 2026 — and why they made him look twice.
On a recent trip to Singapore with my family, I was flabbergasted by a massive floor-to-ceiling digital screen that featured a 3D waterfall (with sound) enveloping an actual doorway. I stared at it for roughly eight minutes, uninterrupted. For an OOH fanatic (read: freak) such as myself, this is the true joy of family travel; not creating timeless family memories but exposing my young daughters to epic OOH creative around the world.
So far in 2026, the world is not disappointing. From viral stunts and special builds (and stunts on special builds), to iconic brands hiding their logos in plain sight for a global sporting specticle, to adopting the language of drunken fast-food connoisseurs, we have seen brands adopt ingenious and inventive uses of public space media.
Here is my list of the six global OOH executions that have most effectively captured my attention in the first half of 2026 and that I wish I had shown my kids IRL.
1. Air Transat – ‘Watch/See’
When the exorbitantly expensive tickets went on sale for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, two things became abundantly clear to me. One, the World Cup is cooked and two, a brand must capitalise on this in OOH.
That is exactly what Canadian airline, Air Transat did. Inspired by the discontent of many of the Canadian public, Air Transat ran real-time cost comparisons between match admission and return flights to participating nations. Using the white line as an interchangeable visual cue between football and flying, they aligned and offset their creative with a contextually relevant cultural moment in a way that was both visually and conceptually impactful. They turned OOH panels into public noticeboards exploiting the moment, promoting their price-point juxtaposition, and offering a subtle jab at the football governing body.
Back of the net, Air Transat.
2. Levi’s – ‘Covered Logo’
When FIFA made Levi’s, and several other brands, cover their logos on their stadiums at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, two things became abundantly clear to me. Firstly the World Cup is beyond cooked; and second a brand (preferably Levi’s) must capitalise on this in OOH.
That is exactly what Levi’s did. Whilst not a traditional OOH campaign, this is one of the best recent examples of the strength of placing distinctive assets in public places.
FIFA’s plan completely backfired. Rather than hiding the stadium sponsor, Levi’s logo’s iconic curvature became even more pronounced, driving a groundswell of earned empathy, appreciation and positive associations for the brand. But it was their embracing of this unknowing elevation that allowed the moment to transcend a mere stunt. They adopted this ‘covered’ logo as their handle on their social channels, demonstrating they were in on the joke and revelling in their accidental global fame.
Holy sheet, what a priceless display of public affection.
3. McDonalds – ‘We Speak Late Night’
Maccas are the OOH GOAT. Whilst there are many great global OOH advertisers – Specsavers, Spotify, British Airways, Disney, Nestle, Uber, Guinness – Maccas holds the greatest share of the (apple) pie for consistently impactful and intelligent OOH.
Their secret is in their exploitation of consumer insights. Maccas understand their customers almost better than we understand ourselves. They are cognisant of any-and-all purchasing occasions, across all relevant customer segments, coupled with the accompanying consumer behaviours, this means they are all-too-aware that drunk people luuurve Maccas at the end of the night.
Using this basic human truth as the foundation for a time-targeted campaign, Maccas communicated with their audience by speaking their language, or at very least, honouring it. They paid homage to the mispronunciation of their products, owning this purchase occasion and inserting themselves further into the joke by demonstrating their awareness, acceptance and affinity with their audiences’ life choices.
I’m (continually) lovin’ it.
4. Obsession – ‘Text Me’
I really don’t like horror movies. As my six year-old daughter would say, they’re just too “scawy” for me. But horror movies are ripe for OOH creative goodness.
We know from Analytic Partners research that emotive creative is 28% more effective on large format. ‘Emotive’ can mean anything, from humour, to nostalgia, to ‘scawing’ the living sh*t out of audiences. That’s exactly what Focus Films did for the release of instant horror classic, Obsession.
Playing on the film’s themes of fixation and control, the campaign centred around billboards in high-footfall areas that featured sweet love notes from ‘Nikki’, expressing her love and inviting passers-by to text her. Over the course of the next week, the billboards began to feature more intense and ‘obsessive’ messages, with mobile users brave enough to text the number displayed also receiving increasingly aggressive and creepy texts.
Fusing the online and offline worlds, this is a brilliant example of iterative creative giving audiences new reasons to pay attention and virally share executions designed to blur the boundaries between reality and fiction.
Whilst I didn’t see the film, I’m obsessed with their marketing.
5. Lemonade Insurance – ‘Graffiti’
OOH can and should be used as a branding tool to stand out, get noticed and craft powerful associations about an advertiser.
Some use the format to project credibility and legitimacy in line with the old adage: ‘you know you’ve made it when you’re on a billboard’, others, such as Lemonade Insurance, stage a hijack of this exclusive broadcast channel to demonstrate and prove their disruptive nature in an otherwise ubiquitous category.
By using the urban landscape as their canvas, leaning into their gritty, grassroots, non-traditional nature, they differentiated themselves from their conservative competitors through the simplest, lo-fi creative executions. This graffiti-filled campaign is the perfect exemplification of how a “challenger” brand should behave in OOH, creating something interesting, eye-catching and just jarring enough to be truly meaningful to consumers.
When life gives you lemonade OOH, be grateful it did.
6. Netflix – ‘Charlize Theron scales the Times Square Apex’
Netflix could have simply constructed a hyper-impactful ‘rock face’ special build in Times Square, NYC to promote their film, Apex. It would have garnered significant attention. But they are Netflix and they don’t simply do anything.
Naturally, having Charlize Theron, the star of the film, scaling that special build was a far more compelling proposition. Even more naturally, crowds began to gather and capture this iconic moment, sharing their excitement and disbelief on their social channels.
This is yet another effortless example of how to use OOH as a creative canvas for online amplification. Be playful with time and space, injecting into such places the themes, imagery and even humans associated with the brand, surprising and delighting audiences whilst giving them a reason to care and to share.
If you want to reach the Apex of film marketing, be more Netflix.
