Happy Friday, folks, and welcome to our latest IndieWork roundup. Want to see your stuff next week? Tell us about it here. Not a member? Start here.
Now, onto the work…
SPORTS SPORTS SPORTS! Let’s talk Super Bowl—the good part of it, anyway. Teasers left and right, celebs crawling out of the woodwork, utter creative mayhem. For example:
Quality Meats for Goggins’ Goggle Glasses and GoDaddy
Welp, everyone pack it up. It’s over. This is the celeb-backed product launch of all time. Walton Goggins sports his sporty Goggle Glasses, while chopping onions and doing other Walton Goggins things. Obsessed—and so is everyone else. This brilliance arrives ahead of GoDaddy’s Super Bowl spot, which will tout how it all came together with the brand’s Airo AI-powered tool.
Erich & Kallman for Reese’s
We lava this teaser that erupted ahead of Reese’s Big Game commercial, featuring an oozy new peanut butter cup. And there are myriad activations in NOLA in the leadup, including:
- Shout “It’s Lava Time, Baby!” at Reese’s Voice Activated Volcano at the Riverwalk Outlets (500 Port of New Orleans Pl, New Orleans, LA 70130) on Tuesday, February 4 and receive a free Reese’s Chocolate Lava Big Cup.
- Snack on Reese’s with the Kelce brothers all week long as we celebrate the start of a year-long partnership with the New Heights podcast and pop-up on Jason’s ESPN show, “They Call it Late Night” in the lead-up to the Big Game.
- Stream (and listen to) Barstool Sports live from NOLA. Your favorite unapologetic hosts across Barstool’s live podcasts and digital shows will match Reese’s fans’ unapologetic love for chocolate lava. If you’re not already, follow Barstool Sports’ shows and personalities on social media and don’t miss Reese’s real life Chocolate Volcano.
Highdive for MSC Cruises
Drew Barrymore and Orlando Bloom are precisely the seafaring duo we needed to escape the… everything else that’s happening right now in this MSC Cruises ad teaser. And it looks like they’re not the only ones going bananas for Highdive’s work, based on the press buzz.
Special US for Uber Eats
Uber Eats always serves up star-studded humor with its Super Bowl snacks, and this year’s sampler, courtesy of Special US, includes Matthew McConaughey, Martha Stewart and Charli XCX.
Erika Wheless has a behind-the-scenes report over at AdAge.
Moving beyond the Big Game…
Storythings helps launch a new music biz podcast
First Draft, Storythings’ pro-bono consultancy that helps orgs “change by working with under-represented communities,” is helping launch The Inside Track, Well Nice Music’s podcast hosted by music mind Josh Craggs.
WorkInProgress for Boost Mobile
WIP is helping Boost Mobile flex its No. 1 network status in NYC with a massive OOH blitz across all five boroughs and Jersey City, taking over taxis, Times Square, and parking ads right outside competitor stores.
Cactus builds itself for LEGO Day
Great idea! How would one go about building an Indie Agency Network out of LEGO. Asking for a friend. Check out Cactus’ bricky animation here.
Hanson Dodge for Adidas
This is without doubt the coolest pickleball has ever looked—and it’s just the teaser.
Tombras for Sweethearts
Sweethearts and Tombras are ditching vague flirting for an AI-powered, candy-centric Valentine’s Day stunt that actually means what it says. Scan a heart on its dedicated website and you could end up with a moving truck, a marriage license, or even a matching headstone—because nothing says “forever” like committing in candy form.
Tim Nudd has the story over at AdAge.
Walrus for Lowes Foods
Lowes Foods is skipping the subtlety and going full weird with an animatronic bear and a taxidermied squirrel banging out grocery store anthems. Brought to life by Walrus, this unhinged brand play gives Brown Bag snacks a personality as big as its claws—and a squirrel sidekick who, despite being very much deceased, absolutely shreds on drums.
David Gianatasio has the story at MUSE.
FIG for HomeSense
FIG’s elegant yet humorous new work invites viewers to reject compromising taste for price in the classiest, most fashionable way possible.
Dame Creative’s Athletes Unlimited teaser
Would you get a load of these dames? No really—this teaser from Dame Creative featuring badass women athletes will get your pulse pumping.
Founders for Lipton Hard Tea
We love some devious and delicious typography and layout work, designed for the “hard-curious.”
Öpinionated for Tastytrade
Over at AdAge, Brandon Doerrer writes about the way Öpinionated’s rebrand from Tastyworks helped Tastytrade compete with Robinhood—and almost doubled its brand awareness and increased new account openings by 71% since the overhaul.
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Jess Zafarris is the author of two books, Once Upon a Word and Words from Hell, with a third forthcoming in 2025. She has contributed to three other books on topics such as social media and gaming. In the past year, she has been quoted in The New York Times and The Guardian, profiled in The Boston Globe, and interviewed on NPR and BBC World Service Radio. She speaks at conferences about writing careers and social media strategy. After 15 years in B2B and enthusiast media, she went independent to write and create content for organizations including Dictionary.com, PR Daily, Writer’s Digest, and Indie Agency News, as well as a host of communications and advertising agencies. Her podcast, Words Unravelled, has reached more than 2.5 million listeners, and her etymology videos are followed more than 100,000 word lovers.
