Hollywood’s Originality Issue Now Coming to Campaigns Near You

Animated classics turned live action. Past box office successes brought back with reboots and remakes. Favorite characters kept alive with sequel after sequel.

The film industry seems like it’s stuck on repeat—but have you noticed that marketing campaigns are in that same loop?

After all, why spend the time, effort, and money when you can simply relaunch what’s worked before?

The Receipts

Dos Equis’ Least Most Interesting Man (Jan 2026) + YT Video

• After a decade of dormancy, this character comes back.

Pepsi Challenge (Feb 2025, recently extended into 2026) + YT Video

• We all remember this from the 90s. Now, not only has it been relaunched, but its success is clearly continuing to prove its worth and therefore it’s even been extended for ‘26.

Tootsie Pop’s “How Many Licks” remake (Sept 2025) + YT Video

• Iconic, unforgettable, and probably one of the longest-running ads of all time. The graphics definitely needed the upgrade.

Gatorade’s “Is It In You?” + YT Video (May 2024)

• The same concept rolled out with new celebrities relevant to the 2020s.

Originality Is Risky—and We’re Naturally Risk-Adverse

Production budgets are getting thinner, while performance expectations seem to only increase. We’re asked to do more with less, and everything has to be tied back to KPIs (understandably).

But in doing so, we lose a lot of the magic that comes from the creative process—the thought behind new ideas, the timeliness with current events. Without these, we can no longer appreciate something that took actual, real effort and ingenuity.

There’s also a bigger risk in putting a new idea into a vocal online community when you don’t know how a campaign may land (see American Eagle and Coca-Cola). It’s less of a financial risk to invest in a winning idea, especially when you know that audiences are aware of your concept and understand what you’re looking to accomplish.

Why Familiarity as a Performance Strategy Makes Sense

If a concept works, why not lean in? Just because we as marketers might poo-poo the idea, if it’s still relevant to today’s audience—or even more relevant—it’s not something we should automatically swat down.

• Affordability: It’s cheaper when you can skip the full concepting and testing phases. You can count on a relatively positive audience response, or a neutral one at worst. Indifference is better than defamation.
• Sentimentality: Familiarity taps into a sense of nostalgia, which resonates with many modern audiences. It also works well in the rising presence of declinism, where more and more people believe the past was a better time, and the future and present just don’t hit the same.

But Culture Doesn’t Move Backward

If movie crowds are sick of safe bets on repeat, it’s likely to be the same case when it comes to brand-led narratives.

• Increasingly Anti-AI: In a world of AI slop, people are craving human experiences and the artistry that comes with time and provocative ideas. More audiences are being drawn to new perspectives and the authentic touch that comes from investments of time, resources and thought.
• Community Resonance: AI usage often results in backlash from the creative community—the exact one the advertising agencies have leveraged for so many years for a resonance that taps into those real emotions we all crave and connect with.
• New Trends Start Somewhere: Someone needs to be clever enough to start trends in the first place and encourage a new idea worth engaging with.

Original Ideas Can Be Worth It

So is investing in creativity when you have a deep understanding of your audience and what they want and need.

Just like we’re less likely to care about Iron Man 16 than Iron Man 2, net new may be harder or require more effort but often is more interesting.

If you’re going for a nostalgic connection and want to remind people of their perceived better past times, sure, tap into that. But if you need something true and new to your brand, your audience and the moment we’re in, source the talented right-brained creatives who know how to do new.

We’re Putting Money Where Our Mouth Is

The higher the risk, the higher the reward—we’ve all heard that. But we’re out to prove that investing in originality is truly worth it, risky or not.

Discomfort Grabs Attention

So many campaigns end up as background noise. Audiences get on their phones or let their minds wander, trained to automatically tune out the ad breaks in favor of something more entertaining.

So, how do we make them focus? Hint: It’s not by repeating what everyone else has already done. You can talk all you want about credentials and experience while pleasant music plays, but let’s be honest—who cares?

Audiences pay attention when it’s personal. They care when it affects them. That’s why we’re making it personal and challenging our healthcare clients to take a different approach to their marketing. Think less like a doctor and more like a patient, especially the one who doesn’t call themselves a patient (yet).

Hard truths. Uncomfortable POVs. Placing the audience in a situation that could one day be their reality. We’re not telling the audience why they should care; we’re showing them. Is it risky? Could it potentially leave a bad taste in someone’s mouth? Yes. But we’d rather be a little unsavory than entirely forgettable.

After all, should the audience find themselves in that situation one day, which do you think they’d prefer: the doctor who touts their qualifications, or the one who understands the patient’s perspective?

It’s a toss-up, and therein lies the risk. But, in our opinion, every doctor has qualifications. Only some also come with the empathy that patients seek in their most vulnerable, frightening moments.

Experiences Are More Memorable

Take Methodist, for example. We don’t just show an OR and say a few things about it—we bring it to life. Diegetic sound and impactful visuals illustrate what it’s like to be on the table. It feels real.

But that’s the thing—the OR is real. It may not be an everyday reality for most people, but emergencies don’t always come with warnings, and they can happen to anyone. We’ve transformed the campaign into an experience, rather than just a message. Audiences hear the heartbeats, the monitor beeps, and realize this is about them—not necessarily right now, but maybe one day.

It’s a lot more impactful than just a voice talking about the surgeon’s expertise and the facility’s classifications, right? That’s what we mean. It’s different, but different doesn’t mean it’s wrong.

MBB: Embracing the New

Our goal isn’t to just regurgitate the same content because it worked the first time. There’s no guaranteed success in trying something new, but we’re not interested in what’s already been done.

We’re not sequel-makers—we’re innovators. We challenge you to do the same.

Explore more of our work to see how well-thought strategy and fresh creative come together at MBB.