In this week’s Our Take, DJs are dropping beats with their balls (for a good cause), burger pop-ups are fighting inflation one beefed-up bite at a time, student athletes hit the social media arena, and a multipurpose app is putting GPS on beach umbrellas for ultimate ease. Check it out below!
Balls in Concert Grabs Our Attention
British cancer charity The Robin Cancer Trust has us grabbing balls (quite literally). Their latest campaign ‘Balls in Concert’ is encouraging men to check their testicles and make music at the same time. Using humour and creativity to challenge taboos around men’s health, the charity has launched MidiBalls – testicle-shaped MIDI controllers that let DJs manipulate sound effects just by giving them a squeeze!
These sensitive gadgets trigger pitch bends, vibrato and let you know that we should all be touching balls. It’s a brilliantly ballsy way to get people talking about testicular cancer. Even better, thing is that you can preorder the MidiBalls yourself. So whether you’re a music lover, DJ, or just love a good laugh, the campaign hits the right note.
This campaign drops the embarrassment and cranks up the volume, using humour to disarm, music to connect, and balls, literal, rubbery, playable ones, to spark crucial conversations.
The insight? Awareness campaigns don’t need to whisper. In a world of scroll-stopping content, the loudest message might just come from a pair of novelty testicles that also double as studio gear. We say: bravo, bravado.
Fast food Finance
Fast food is now luxury cuisine, or so your bank balance would have you believe. But Chilis isn’t having it. In the latest volley in the fast food value war, the brand has launched its ‘Fast Food Financing’ activation in the heart of Union Square, NYC – right next door to a McDonald’s no less!
Masquerading as a payday loan store, Chilis’ tongue-in-bun pop-up offered approved customers a $20 “credit line” and access to its new weapon in the inflation arms race: the ‘Big Qp’. With 85% more beef than the golden arches’ Quarter Pounder and all the nostalgic fast food fixings it’s a full-bodied, budget-conscious wink to burger culture’s rising costs.
Outside, satirical OOH campaigns asked New Yorkers if they needed a “Vacation from Inflation.” Inside, Chilis offered something rarer: a brand with humour, edge, and economic empathy.
As cost-of-living pain points hit home, brands that can tap into real financial anxiety with creativity, not just coupons, win big. This isn’t just marketing. It’s meme-ready, culture-jacking, economic theatre.
COllege athletes PLAY social media game
Move over courts and fields, UNC is setting up a whole new type of game: the social media arena. With the hope of turning its athletes into digital dynamos, the University of North Carolina is partnering with Article 41 to transform 850 student-athletes into social media influencers.
Vickie Segar, the mastermind behind the program, is giving athletes the tools to turn their TikTok and Instagram pages into money-making machines. It’s not about going viral (or being the next TikTok icon); it’s about hitting that sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000 followers, where the real cash starts flowing. The message is clear: even benchwarmers can cash in. From making sponsored posts with Papa John’s to sporting gym clothes for Athleta, these athletes are proving they can serve up content as well as they serve up wins.
Sun, Sand & Smart Deliveries
Picture it: Dubai. Blazing sun, golden sand and absolutely no way to get snacks delivered to your sunbed. Thanks to a city-wide ban on beach vendors, getting food on the sand has long been a no-go. But Careem, the Middle East’s all-in-one super app, saw an opportunity.
Careem Beach, a brilliant concept involving GPS-enabled umbrellas that double as delivery markers. You grab one from a station near the beach entrance, unlock it via the app, plonk it down wherever you fancy, and just like that, it becomes your personal delivery hotspot.
Launched at Gitex 2024 (the Middle East’s biggest tech fest), this sunshine-soaked stunt wasn’t just clever, it was seriously strategic. Done in partnership with Dubai Municipality (so, not technically breaking the rules), the campaign turned a regulatory pain point into a brand-building power move.
The results? Over 70 million impressions, a 14% boost in awareness for Careem as an “everything app”, and nearly €3 million in earned media. In the first week alone, they racked up 10,000 new downloads in beach zones, 4,000+ orders, and a 400% drop in cancellations. Operational win? Check. Cannes contender? Wouldn’t bet against it.
Careem solved a real problem in a way that felt effortless, cool, and genuinely useful. It’s utility, culture and tech in one neat, sandy package.