Equinox advertising campaign, “Commit to Something”, won a Graphite Pencil for Outdoor Advertising/Poster Advertising Campaigns in the 2016 D&AD Awards. With the rise of convenience culture, it’s too easy to avoid commitment. Everything is forgotten by the next tweet, Uber driver you call, or job you grab in six-month’s time. Equinox wanted to rise above this rather lazy approach toward living. As a gym, they know commitment is everything. To encourage people’s commitment in provocative, interesting ways, they went beyond the usual gym/working out photography and instead focussed on commitments in life. The result was a campaign (Print, Out-of-home, Digital, Social, In Club) that created conversation, divided opinion, and made international news.

Calvin Klein’s latest “In My Calvins” advertising campaign, promoting the Spring 2016 range, is raising eyebrows over its erotic nature. The risqué Erotica In My Calvins campaign, shot by photographer Harley Weir, features American fashion model and television personality Kendall Jenner, Danish actress Klara Kristin, Australian actress Abbey Lee Kershaw and Dutch artist and model Saskia de Brauw. Jenner’s controversial ad has her suggestively holding a cut citrus fruit, with the words, “I Eat In #MyCalvins.” Kristin’s ads include an up-skirt shot of her wearing a short dress. Kershaw’s work shows her posing with her hand strategically placed in her underwear. An unnamed model is shown with the phrase “I belfry in my Calvins”, with the corresponding rear selfie and jeans zip. Is this a celebration of sexuality or a case of sexual objectification?

MACMA, Movimiento Ayuda Cáncer de Mama, an Argentinian Breast Cancer charity, is running TetasxTetas (Manboobs4boobs), an integrated advertising campaign in which an overweight man stands in front of a topless woman, allowing his man boobs to be used for a demonstration online breast exam. The initiative, launched on social networks, poses a double challenge: warning of a problem that each year affects about 18,000 women in Argentina, and highlighting the need to communicate in a clear and uncensored way that women can examine their breasts. “Women’s boobs, particularly their nipples, are censored in some social networks, even if what they are doing is to show a breast self-examination to reduce the risk of breast cancer. But we found boobs that aren’t censored. Henry’s”.

AIDES, the French AIDS awareness organisation, is running “Moi, le sida” (I AIDS), an online campaign personalising the character of AIDS on Twitter (@lesida), Grindr, Tinder, Facebook (facebook.com/lesidaofficiel), Instagram (@le_sida_jesuisla) and Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/moi-le-sida-789174bb), with the hashtag “JeSuisLa” (I Am Here). The idea was to make AIDS a real, omnipresent and cynical character that it is still around and can affect you at any moment, everywhere you go. A virus that uses the same tools as everyone else. A commercial, “Je suis là” (I am here) presents the campaign in chilling terms. People meet on Tinder and Grindr? AIDS is checked-in everywhere too. Twitter users want more followers? AIDS follows everyone. You all share your life stories on Facebook? So does AIDS. Want to show something on Instagram? Good, because AIDS goes to the same bars as you. You’re proud of your career on Linkedin? Imagine a 32 million victims serial killer. Those interacting with Le Sida are encouraged to let him talk and then get together to shut him up.

Queer Lisboa, a film festival held in Lisbon, Portugal, is promoting the 19th annual festival with “Obscene”, a film and print advertising campaign challenging prejudice toward same sex couples. The film at the heart of the campaign features a classic scene of a couple bidding farewell at a train station. Key words in the dialogue are blanked out, along with their kiss goodbye. Three print advertisements, “Station”, “Moto” and “Bench” continue the message. “Obscene to some. Beautiful to us”.