The Top 10 Muse Stories of 2022

We're about to take off for the holidays, but in the meantime, here's our annual roundup of the most-read Muse stories of the year.

Also check out the Top 10 Muse Essays of 2022.

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Larry David Makes His Commercial Acting Debut in FTX's Hilarious Super Bowl Ad

Before imploding spectacularly, the year started off so well for cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which enticed Larry David to star in his very first TV ad—on the Super Bowl no less. The spot, from DentsuMB, was well received during the game, though ironically, Larry's reluctance in the ad to embrace FTX actually proved to be prescient.

Read more here.

9️⃣

Adidas Tweets Bare Breasts To Promote Its Inclusive Line of Sports Bras

In one of the year's most provocative campaigns, Adidas hoped to normalize bare breasts of all shapes and sizes with #SupportIsEverything, a campaign that began with a tweet showing dozens of naked breasts to promote an upcoming line of sports bras that includes 43 styles and 72 sizes. In May, the U.K. Advertising Standards Agency decided the campaign—created by TBWA\Neboko—would "likely cause widespread offense" and it was banned.

Read more here.

8️⃣

Louis Vuitton's Messi/Ronaldo Ad Is Even More Brilliant Than It Looks

The Qatar World Cup gave us plenty of great—and not-so-great—marketing moments, but none were as instantly iconic as Louis Vuitton's print ad featuring Lionel Messi of Argentina, the eventual champion, playing Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo at chess. The positioning of the pieces—replicating a board from a 2017 match between grandmasters Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura—was an all-time great easter egg as well.

Read more here.

7️⃣

Pringles Will Pay You $25,000 to Work as an NPC in a Video Game

We saw a bunch of engaging gaming campaigns this year, but this effort from Pringles U.K. and Grey London stood out by offering player a chance to work in a video game as an NPC (non-player character), refilling Pringles vending machines in Train Sim World. The idea emerged from the overarching campaign theme, "Stay in the game," due to Pringles being less messy than other snacks and easier to eat while gaming.

Read more here.

6️⃣

British Airways' New Ads Will Make You Love Copywriting Again

Uncommon in London created one of our favorite print/OOH campaigns of 2022, crafting an impressive 500 unique executions—with no visuals whatsoever, just simple and evocative copy lines. The ads were modeled after the forms you fill out upon arrival in a new destination—though in addition to "business" or "leisure," each execution added a third option, exploring the variety of reasons so many of us travel.

Read more here.

5️⃣

The Story Behind Nike's Amazing 3-D Air Max Billboard in Japan

For the 35th anniversary of Nike Air Max Day, Nike Japan pulled out all the stops, working with creative collective CEKAI to make a eye-catching 3-D billboard outside Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. We saw a number of 3-D billboards like this in 2022, but this was one of the best.

Read more here.

4️⃣

DirecTV Lampoons Ghostbusters With Help From 4 Baseball Greats

DirecTV and TBWA\Chiat\Day L.A. stuffed this spot full of retired baseball greats—Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson—who teamed up as the "GOATbusters" (Ghostbusters: Afterlife had just arrived on DirecTV) to battle a giant version of Cincinnati Reds mascot Mr. Redlegs. 

Read more here.

3️⃣

Coinbase and Its QR Code Win the Super Clio as Super Bowl's Best Ad

The Super Bowl is always full of spectacle: celebs, special effects, Puppy Monkey Babies. But this year, the Super Clio—bestowed by a jury of top industry creatives—was awarded to the most captivatingly lo-fi spot of the game. Accenture Interactive's ad for crypto brand Coinbase featured 60 seconds of a QR code bouncing around a screen, one of the most audacious direct-marketing ploys in history.

Read more here.

2️⃣

What's Up With Prime Video's Freakishly Elongated Football?

Prime Video took over coverage of Thursday Night Football this fall, and its marketing for the broadcasts included this completely bogus story about an elongated football that quarterbacks could throw further—more than the length of a football field, supposedly. Wilson created 33 of the balls for real, and even though everyone knew it was a prank, the campaign, from agency Atlantic New York, was all over mainstream media.

Read more here.

1️⃣

Bud Light's 'Real Men of Genius.' The Making of a Radio Classic

Season 2 of our Tagline podcast rolled out back in the spring, and it was the fourth episode, about the making of Bud Light's "Real Men of Genius" campaign, that got the most listens. We revisited the campaign's greatest hits with folks on the agency, client and production sides—to see how a the idea blossomed into a decade-long entertainment franchise that spawned 200 radio spots, as well as TV ads, compilation CDs and even live events.

Read more here.