62 Of My Favourite PR Campaigns From 2022, Ranked

I don’t normally do this, but I was thinking I’d love to have a place I can come back to and look at all the efforts of the past year, without having to go through my monthly Creative Campaign blogs. So, presenting to you, my list of stunts, ranked. Here’s what I picked up on in 2022 as deserving a mention (not to say there weren’t TONNES more marketing bits that should’ve been included too, but I’m just one woman!), and where I’d rank them.

My Winning Top 10

1. Rising Benches | City of Copenhagen – this HAS to be my favourite campaign of the year, even though it wasn’t even one of our own! The big benches erected in Denmark to highlight rising water levels caught attention immediately, were interactive, dare I say it, Instagrammable and an all-around talking point. I’d love to see more of this in 2023.
2. Solve for Tomorrow | Quentin Devine & Samsung – another climate-related campaign (shock) but I love when a campaign is really, really clever – and these re-imagined classic paintings by Quentin Devine really did the trick.
3. A Flooded East End | BBC1 – I see there’s a theme running here, but anything that really challenges the status quo and grabs your attention is bound to stir up a few conversations, and what better a thing to think on than the damage done to our planet by ourselves, kudos to BBC1 for coming up with this cracker of a campaign.
4. #SupportIsEverything | Adidas – the fact this campaign was banned, goes to show the challenges that modern-day marketers have. Nevertheless, it was a massive talking point at the time and I LOVED the message.
5. Free Calls To Ukraine | BT – simple but so effective, this was exactly what a lot of people needed in the February of last year, and I’m glad BT were the first to step up and offer it.
6. No Love Island Fast Fashion | ITV & eBay – Love Island has the ability to influence so many, so for all its flaws I was really happy to see it use that popularity for good in last year’s series. Even better, when Tasha partnered up with eBay shortly after winning the series, it just extended the message to a young, impressionable audience, that fast fashion isn’t so great!
7. A Road Made From Nappies | Pura & NappiCycle – a shameless plug of one of my clients, but I am so so so proud of them for this campaign. And trust me, as a PR, it’s the gift that keeps giving.
8. Little Miss Waste Less | Ecover – a new entry from December 2022 that went straight to the top, honestly, I blame the nostalgia it evoked, but I just love the idea of teaching our younger generation good habits early on, and what better to do that than the Mr Men and Little Miss books?!
9. Reverse Advent Calendar | Tesco – another from just last month, but I absolutely love a campaign that focuses around charity. The reverse advent calendar by Tesco took an idea used by many across the country and made it into a much bigger thing. I hope they roll this out across the country this Christmas.
10. Celebrities’ Tweeted Dreams | Twitter – truly, I forgot how much I’d loved this campaign until I dug it back out for this blog, but the billboards that Twitter put up at the beginning of last year of celebrities’ old tweets, manifesting their dreams, were SO COOL. It spoke to me on so many levels, and that’s why it made the top 10!

And The Rest, Ranked (Love You All Though!)

1. He’s Coming Home | Women’s Aid
2. After Life Benches | Netflix
3. The Weight Of Mental Health | GymShark
4. Inclusive Barbie Dolls | Mattel
5. Boris At The Job Centre | Madame Tussauds
6. Nappy Recycling Trial | Pura & NappiCycle
7. “As If Nothing Happened” | Alper Yesiltas
8. #ColoursOfLove | TBWA Paris
9. A Lettuce Outlasts Liz | Daily Star
10. Bye Bye Bounties | Celebrations
11. Are They Smiling At Me? | Paramount
12. Sponsors Of Qatar FC | DuoLingo
13. Ask For Henry | Morrisons & Heinz
14. The Chicken Big Mac Launch | McDonald’s
15. Crystal Bras | Pour Moi
16. Hotter Than Nandos | Nandos
17. Promoting Mishap Tweets | Specsavers
18. Same Gender Caterpillars | M&S
19. Sweedish Seed Balls | IKEA
20. Vintage Primark | Wornwell & Primark
21. Liar.co.uk = Boris Johnson | Mark Rofe
22. Name A Bin After Your Ex | businesswaste.co.uk
23. Corn Kid Promotes Sweetcorn | Green Giant
24. Boss’ WhatsApp Conversation | Innocent
25. Selfish Flickers | Clean Up Britain
26. Chicken Stock Library | KFC
27. Francis Bourgeois’ Fashion Range | Gucci & North Face
28. Keys Launched From Space | Good Move UK
29. Popcorn For The Downing St Drama | Butterkist
30. Shop Greggs Merch | Primark & Greggs
31. #TattooDuoOver | Duo Lingo
32. Royal Sauces | Heinz
33. The McBaguette | Netflix & McDonalds
34. Kayne West Tattoo Removals | NAAMA Studios
35. Big Mac Themed Smoke Detectors | McDonald’s
36. Greggs Hen Party | Greggs
37. Wagatha Cristie Snacks | Butterkist
38. Cuthbert Is Back | Aldi
39. Stay Overnight In The Mystery Machine | Air BnB
40. The World’s Biggest Jaffa Cake | McVities
41. Bye Gull Bye | Deliveroo
42. Spoon Shaped Fries | Heinz
43. Lucy’s Pizza | Dominoes
44. Nostalgic Happy Meals | McDonald’s
45. Jump The Queue Like Holly & Phil | London Dungeon
46. Go To Bed With Harry Kane | CBeebies
47. The Colnel’s Arms | KFC
48. All Drugs Are Legal | Channel 4
49. Un-Invitation | Hitched
50. Chester’s New Sign | Visit Cheshire
51. Creating Your Own Bridgeton Garden | The Telegraph
52. Eau de isn’t Bacon | THIS

The Best Brands

When typing out this list, I couldn’t help but notice there were quite a few familiar faces re-appearing as I worked my way down, so, here’s a shoutout to them.

McDonald’s – a brand as big as this doesn’t necessarily need to plunge all its money into marketing, but the tone of voice and personality of the business is so spot on, that all their campaigns seem to just hit one after the other. Working in the marketing team there must be super rewarding.

DuoLingo – this business has always had a great personality, but I feel like they’ve just gotten better and better over the past few years. Their campaigns are well thought out and always on-brand, I love everything they do.

Heinz – we LOVE an underdog! I was surprised to see that I had mentioned so many of Heinz’s campaigns this year as they aren’t a brand that would immediately come to mind when I think of big marketing blowouts, however, they pulled off so many class campaigns in 2022 and I look forward to seeing what they do this year.

Butterkist – and finally, I wanted to mention this brand because although they only feature twice, I just love how ON BRAND and relevant both campaigns are. Buterkist have really said “this is our thing” and run with it. I look forward to seeing them pop up next time there’s some national drama. I’m sure it won’t be too long.

I’ll be back soon with more blogs on the creative campaigns that 2023 has to bring, can’t wait to see if it tops last year!