The 'Poo-moji' campaign commemorates the 10th anniversary of the Poop Emoji by creatively reimagining it in 50 unique forms through the collaboration of Toronto-based photographer and visual artist Justin Poulsen with the agency Rethink. Positioned within the agency self-promo industry, the campaign leverages humor and cultural relevance to highlight creative innovation and artistic versatility, implicitly showcasing the agency’s ability to blend popular culture with original visual storytelling. The brand proposition centers on demonstrating the agency’s creative depth and adaptability by transforming a widely recognized and playful icon into diverse visual interpretations, thereby reinforcing its position as a creative force capable of fresh, culturally informed content.
Strategically, the campaign taps into the enduring popularity and universal recognition of the Poop Emoji—a symbol that resonates across demographics due to its humor and ubiquity in digital communication. By marking a milestone anniversary, the campaign evokes nostalgia and contemporary relevance, engaging audiences familiar with emoji culture while attracting attention through its inventive artistic execution. The creative angle of diversifying a simple, cheeky icon into multiple artistic renditions serves to intrigue and amuse, aligning with the media and entertainment market’s appreciation for visual creativity and cultural trends. This approach targets a broad audience, including industry peers and potential clients, by showcasing the agency’s capacity for clever, culturally tuned self-promotion rather than directly advertising a commercial product.
FORMAT#11 UNIQUE PERSONALITY PROPERTY — Highlights a unique feature, origin, or distinctive product identity.
This campaign centers entirely on the Poop Emoji’s 10th anniversary, using the emoji itself as the “product” and celebrating its distinctive, playful identity. The creative act of recreating the emoji in 50 different ways underscores its singular cultural impact and unique personality — there is no product demonstration, problem/solution setup, story-driven arc, symbolism of benefits/problems, parody, testimonial, celebrity, or user imagery at play. Instead, the focus is on highlighting and playfully honoring the emoji’s special status and recognizability in digital culture, aligning perfectly with the Unique Personality Property format.
ADVERTISING FORMATS EXPLAINED: https://www.clapboard.com/blog/branding-and-advertising/brand-strategy/12-advertising-creative-formats
1. Cossette – Positioned as a full-service marketing agency, Cossette leverages creativity and data-driven insights to craft culturally relevant and impactful campaigns, focusing on brand storytelling that connects emotionally with Canadian and global audiences.
2. Sid Lee – Known for its innovative and multidisciplinary approach, Sid Lee blends technology, design, and content creation, emphasizing collaboration and cultural relevance to deliver transformative brand experiences across media and entertainment sectors.
3. TAXI – TAXI stands out by fostering bold, original storytelling driven by a deep understanding of audience behavior, offering agile, strategic campaigns that blend traditional and digital media for high engagement and brand loyalty.
4. Zulu Alpha Kilo – With a reputation for irreverent humor and disruptive creativity, Zulu Alpha Kilo positions itself as a challenger brand in the advertising space, crafting campaigns that break conventions and resonate strongly within entertainment and agency self-promo markets.
5. Rethink – Rethink differentiates through smart, witty, and clever campaigns that often incorporate humor and cultural insights, positioning itself as a creative powerhouse in Canada’s agency self-promo and entertainment marketing landscape.
Q: What is Poo-moji about?
A: Poo-moji is a 2018 agency self-promo campaign created by Toronto-based agency Rethink in collaboration with photographer and visual artist Justin Poulsen. Developed for the Canadian media and entertainment market, the campaign celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Poop Emoji by reimagining the iconic symbol in 50 unique artistic forms. Through a single film asset, Poo-moji leverages the universal appeal and humor of the emoji to engage a broad audience, positioning both the agency and the artist as creative leaders capable of transforming familiar cultural icons into inventive visual storytelling.
Q: What creative device does Poo-moji use?
A: Poo-moji employs the Unique Personality Property format, as classified by Clapboard’s 12-format taxonomy. This creative device centers on highlighting a distinctive feature or origin—in this case, the playful and instantly recognizable identity of the Poop Emoji. Rather than telling a story or demonstrating a product, the campaign celebrates the emoji itself as the “product,” using 50 imaginative reinterpretations to underscore its singular cultural impact and enduring popularity in digital communication.
Q: What is the campaign proposition for Poo-moji?
A: The campaign proposition for Poo-moji is to showcase Rethink’s creative depth and adaptability by transforming the widely recognized Poop Emoji into 50 diverse visual interpretations. Targeting both industry peers and potential clients within the media and entertainment sector, the campaign leverages humor and cultural relevance to reinforce the agency’s position as a creative force attuned to contemporary trends. By commemorating a milestone anniversary, Poo-moji connects with audiences familiar with emoji culture, demonstrating the agency’s ability to blend popular culture with original visual storytelling.
Q: How does Poo-moji rank in Clapboard's archive?
A: Poo-moji holds a Clapboard Campaign Score of 67/100 in Clapboard’s global ad archive. This score reflects the campaign’s creative ambition, execution quality, and cultural relevance as evaluated by Clapboard’s curatorial standards.
Q: Who are the competitors in Rethink's category?
A: In the Canadian agency self-promo and media entertainment sector, Rethink competes with Cossette, which focuses on emotionally resonant brand storytelling driven by creativity and data; Sid Lee, known for its multidisciplinary approach blending technology, design, and content creation; TAXI, which emphasizes bold, audience-driven storytelling across traditional and digital media; and Zulu Alpha Kilo, recognized for its irreverent humor and disruptive creative strategies that challenge industry conventions. Each of these agencies brings a distinct creative philosophy to the competitive landscape.
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