A real mixed bag this week and quite a lot to talk about: purpose-led work that actually lands, a stunt that is very on-brand but also a bit yikes, and the return of one of advertising’s most chaotic men.

Some made me feel something. Some made me laugh. One made me think, okay… but should you?

Barcelona – World Down Syndrome Day

Barcelona marked World Down Syndrome Day by changing the shirt lettering to feature the handwriting of Anna Vives, an artist with Down syndrome.

What makes it land is the scale of it. This isn’t a small internal gesture or a nice social post - it’s Barcelona using one of the biggest, most world-class football stages there is to celebrate the work of an artist with Down syndrome. That visibility really matters. And in a way that feels celebratory, respectful and modern – centring the talent first.

My only question is what happens next. Awareness is great, but I’d be interested to see what more they do beyond the moment itself.

Clue – The Cost of Bleeding

Clue’s Cost of Bleeding campaign is one where the stat does a lot of the heavy lifting, because it’s genuinely such a mad (and maddening) one: the average lifetime cost of having a period is apparently over £20k.

Fronted by Ashley James and calling on the government to follow Scotland’s lead and make period products free, which gives it more weight than just another awareness push.

I think that’s why it works. It takes something people live with all the time, puts a number on it – it applies pressure. Period poverty and the cost attached to menstrual health still doesn’t get anywhere near enough attention, so I like that this gives people a stat they’ll actually repeat.

Bravo team and keep your foot on those necks (figuratively).

Polymarket – Washington DC bar

Polymarket – the world’s largest prediction market, has launched a Washington DC bar designed for watching global chaos unfold and it’s kind of genius and kind of deeply grim.

On one hand, you have to give it to them: it is completely rooted in what the brand is. They let people bet on world events, so creating a physical space where people can sit, drink and watch that chaos unfold makes total sense.

But also… read the room a bit?

Because the “chaos” in question is war, political instability, economic fear and people’s actual lives. So while it’s very on-brand, it also feels pretty tone deaf. Like yes, we are all doomscrolling the state of the world, but turning that into a bar experience is a bit far?

It’ll get people talking, which is obviously the point. But potentially too Trumpian for my liking.

GOSH – Play on Pause

GOSH’s Play on Pause installation is honestly just beautiful. The sculptures of children playing made from chemotherapy-style wires are heartbreaking, but done in a really thoughtful way.

I think charity campaigns have a particularly hard job right now because there is so much horror in the world that people can become a bit numb. So work that makes people stop and really feel something matters even more.

This definitely does that. It’s emotional, of course, but it doesn’t feel manipulative. It just captures the interruption of childhood in a really simple, poignant way.

A strong piece of work for a very important cause. You can donate here.

Cillit Bang – The Return of Barry Scott

And then there’s Barry Scott, who has returned to our screens like the fever dream he always was.

I loved this. The mockumentary approach, the self-awareness, the commitment to the bit - all of it really works. Rather than just wheeling Barry back out and hoping nostalgia does the job, Cillit Bang has leaned into the long-running joke of where he’s been and what he’s been up to.

That’s what makes it land. It doesn’t feel like a lazy throwback, it feels like a brand actually understanding the weird cultural place Barry Scott holds in people’s minds.

It’s hilarious, smart and just very well pulled together.