From a team of ice and heat warriors in an Icy Hot bottle to a group of sleuthing cinnamon squares to Dick Vitale and Paige Bueckers, this year’s output from Richmond’s advertising industry saw plenty of quirky ideas.
These are our picks for some of the year’s best locally-produced ad campaigns, in no particular order, pulled from The Pitch and other BizSense coverage:
Arts & Letters – The ESPN Chirpline
In April, Arts & Letters released a campaign for ESPN to promote the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Called “The ESPN Chirpline,” the 60-second spot featured a hotline where NHL fans can chat about trades, playoff matchups and other topics. The video aired on ESPN programming and social media channels.
“This campaign gives fans a completely new outlet for taking part in the time-honored hockey tradition of chirping,” said Brendan Howard of Arts & Letters. “We wanted the nostalgic aura of the ESPN Chirpline to resonate with both established fans and the growing younger audience during the impassioned Stanley Cup Playoffs. Ironically, an old fashioned achieves just that.”
The Martin Agency – The Comeback Cavalry
The month of March saw the Martin Agency’s first work for pain therapy brand Icy Hot. Called “The Comeback Cavalry,” the campaign features longtime Icy Hot ambassador Shaquille O’Neal as the leader of a team of ice and heat warriors inside an Icy Hot bottle, treating any pain an athlete might be feeling.
The campaign was directed by Los Angeles-based director Keith Schofield, and unveiled a new tagline: “You’re So Back,” a spin on the viral phrase “We’re so back.”
“Rather than focusing on elite athletes and dramatic sports moments, this work shifts the lens to everyday athletes — the ones grinding at the rec league, playing pickup, or pushing through their weekend workouts. Because every moment of pain matters, whether it’s the NBA Finals or a neighborhood 3-on-3,” the ad agency said of the campaign.
Spang and Familiar Creatures – Unbelievable
Spang and Familiar Creatures teamed up for a campaign for frozen burger brand Bubba’s Burgers. The campaign spanned social and digital marketing with messaging like “frozen beats fresh” and “specially ground.”
The campaign included a TV spot called “Unbelievable,” which shows a prosthetic yeti and an alien who are roommates, discussing whether the brand’s burger is “the best burger ever.”
“Using practical makeup and prosthetics, we inserted big Hollywood visuals into a small, passive aggressive roommate moment to create a scene that’s equal parts absurd and authentic,” says the Familiar Creatures website of the campaign.
VCU Brandcenter – 2025 Production Initiative
VCU Brandcenter hosted its second year of a program that pairs graduate students with directors, producers and production companies to turn student scripts into professional-grade ads. Local firms involved in the program this year included Mondial, Fwens, Superjoy, Bousquet Pictures, SpangTV and Red Amp. Also involved were Martin Agency’s Marjorie Fajardo and Arts & Letters’ Danny Ryan.
Three spots were produced from the Brandcenter program for U-Haul, Party City and 5-hour Energy. The U-Haul spot seen here depicts a young woman looking into her future, filled with trials, tribulations and successes, with her partner as they set up their new apartment to the slogan “The Way to What’s Ahead.”
CarMax – Big Moves ft. Paige Bueckers
Though not a local ad agency, home-grown car retailer CarMax launched two new spots last month starring pro basketball players Paige Bueckers and Donovan Mitchell. Bueckers’ spot sees the WNBA star shop for her next car using CarMax’s AI assistant Skye, while Mitchell’s spot promotes selling a car and scheduling an at-home pickup. The ads were produced by Los Angeles-based 72andSunny, after the car retailer shifted its work over from the Martin Agency in the spring.
CarMax also announced multi-year partnerships with the WNBA Rookie of the Year and NBA All-Star.
Another Thing – Rebound & Recover
After local industry veteran Nick Kaplan launched creative agency Another Thing with Boston-based partners Chris Pape and Mike Cassell, the agency has been busy at work, creating campaigns for brands like Planet Fitness, Mike’s Hot Honey and Shake Shack.
In a Planet Fitness campaign, called “Rebound & Recover,” Another Thing parked a bus outside arenas during March Madness that invited fans onboard to test out the brand’s spa equipment and worked with commentator Dick Vitale on a media campaign.
“I think it’s important, especially with so many agencies coming into the marketplace, to really have some proof of concepts already. We really feel like we have a running start,” Kaplan said of the agency’s beginnings this year.
Two Tango Collaborative – Impact
Two Tango Collaborative worked on a campaign for the Virginia DMV highlighting a statistic that found that the majority of last year’s unrestrained car fatalities in Virginia occurred on rural roads, involving men ages 18 to 30 alone in their vehicles. The campaign, which includes 30-second, 15-second and six-second spots, encourages viewers to buckle up for those who aren’t in the car with them.
Per Two Tango, the campaign was meant to shift perceptions and behaviors by showing seatbelt use as the “social norm.”
Tilt Creative + Production – Audi x MLS: The Assist
Tilt completed a spot for Audi highlighting the auto brand’s 10-year sponsorship of Major League Soccer.
Called “The Assist,” the 30-second spot shows soccer players kicking the ball around with a red Audi RS e-tron GT to the tune of Run-DMC’s “Tricky.” The spot aired during the MLS Cup in early December.
The Martin Agency – Must Cinnadust
The Martin Agency also launched a new campaign for Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Called “Must Cinnadust,” the true crime-themed campaign included a series of animated spots showing the cereal squares grappling with their eating of each other. Martin worked with production company Passion Pictures on the project.
Martin Agency creative director Danielle Delph said earlier this year that the campaign was meant to create new types of visuals for the brand and to expand on the cinnamon squares’ “internal conflict” over their eating of one another.
Arts & Letters – The Bar
Arts & Letters released three 30-second spots for client FanDuel Sportsbook. Called “The Bar,” the campaign features actor Luis Guzmán as a bartender, football star Rob Gronkowski and a cast of characters in and out of the bar placing bets via the platform.
“Our experience in sports and tech has taught us that category leaders stay ahead by doubling down on the intersection of product truth and audience insight,” Arts & Letters founder Charles Hodges said of the campaign.
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