Exit Britain, pursued by….

Our prototype ADDS site went live shortly before the Brexit vote in 2016.

Here are a few European ad campaigns, both hard-hitting and amusing, from non-UK countries in the EU that have caught our eye since.

This ‘let them eat cake’ gender equality campaign out of Romania was one of the first, and the ‘Unquiet Voices’ campaign, also Romanian, made a powerful point about domestic violence and abuse (DVA) by superimposing the stories of real DVA survivors onto old black and white movies.

Spain’s Adolfo Dominguez eponymous fashion house – which has a tradition of challenging social mores in its promotions – commanded respect with its in-yer-face #SeMasViejo / #BeMoreOld campaign:

New tech has formed a fast-moving part of the landscape, including this mesmerising piece involving Old Masters and artificial intelligence (AI) work out of Belgium, and printed houses, no less, forming an ad in themselves in The Netherlands.

Heineken scored in Croatia during football’s World Cup by lower prices in a thoroughly back-to-basics beer ad - what’s not to like?! 

Of course Sweden sticks out like a piece of IKEA flat-packed furniture you haven’t quite assembled properly. The company is known as much for transforming our living environments as for tackling the bigger issue of an eco-friendly global society through often whimsical ads like this one involving ice-skating andArmenian/French crooner Charles Aznavour. 

France, known for its spirit of romance and protest, offers humour such as this amusing bank ad, while Greece charms with an ouch-inducing vignette of family life. 

If it’s off-the-charts creativity you’re after, Italy’s your country, with luxury fashion house Gucci offering visually rich weirdness in so many ways, from this ‘Star Trek’ sci-fi retro to Harry Styles combing a pig. 

And to finish it off, this high-octane, humorous mini-movie for Porsche out of Germany, which roared onto the scene in the same week that Britain chugged out of the EU.

ends

Keywords: artifical intelligence, AI, gender equality, violence against women, EU ads, ageism, creativity, electric cars, luxury, European advertising, marketing post-Brexit