Friday 22 May 2026: PR & Marketing News Round‑Up | Nostalgia, Escapism & Cultural Cut-Through
Just in time for the bank holiday ‘heatwave’ weekend, welcome back to this week’s PR & Marketing News Round-Up from Visible PR.
From reality TV stars stepping into government campaigns to giant caterpillar topiaries outside Chelsea Flower Show, this week’s standout work shows how brands are increasingly leaning into familiarity, emotion and real-world experience to garner attention. Whether through humour, nostalgia or immersive activations, the campaigns cutting through all have one thing in common: they give audiences something culturally recognisable and easy to engage with.
Read on to explore the campaigns that had our team talking this week…
Gemma Collins is back with a collaboration with… the Department of Education?
Following her recent Canva campaign, Gemma Collins returns in another unexpected partnership, this time with the UK Government’s Department for Education. In a series of social-first videos alongside Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, Collins arrives asking, “What are we doing for the kids?” before joining discussions on education reform. The campaign leans into her larger-than-life personality and recognisable delivery style, using humour and familiarity to make policy messaging feel more accessible and culturally visible.
Why it matters for PR & Marketing: Pairing Gemma Collins, closely associated with reality TV and meme culture, with government policy is deliberately unexpected, driving intrigue and conversation. However, while the format delivers cut-through, it also highlights the balancing act behind influencer style campaigns. Visibility alone is not enough. In a landscape where authenticity is key, campaigns still need to feel credible to fully land.
Oatly opens “bike-thru” coffee experience in Amsterdam
Oatly has launched a new activation in Amsterdam, swapping the traditional drive-thru format for a “bike-thru” experience designed specifically for cyclists. The pop-up invited people to pedal up and collect coffee without ever leaving their bikes, leaning into Amsterdam’s cycling culture while reinforcing Oatly’s sustainability credentials in a way that feels natural rather than overly corporate. The activation combined sampling, city-specific insight and social-first visuals to create a campaign built for both participation and content capture.
Why it matters for PR & Marketing: What makes this campaign effective is how closely the idea aligns with both the brand and the environment it exists in. Rather than forcing a generic activation into a city space, Oatly built something that feels culturally aware and locally relevant, which makes the campaign more authentic and more likely to resonate. It’s also another example of experiential marketing working best when participation is simple, visual and easy for audiences to share organically online.
Aldi unveils giant Cuthbert topiary near RHS Chelsea Flower Show
Aldi brought back one of its most recognisable characters this week, unveiling a giant Cuthbert the Caterpillar topiary and parading it near the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. The installation tapped into British garden culture while playing on the long-running Cuthbert vs Colin the Caterpillar rivalry. Timed around one of the UK’s biggest horticultural events, the stunt combined humour, spectacle and cultural relevance to create a highly visible, shareable moment.
Why it matters for PR & Marketing: The activation works well because it combines timing, familiarity and strong visual impact. In their usual comical style, Aldi takes a well-known brand asset and repositions it in a culturally relevant setting, making the idea feel immediate rather than forced. Riding the wave of the Chelsea Flower Show, Aldi also demonstrates how effective simple, visually striking stunts can be when audiences instantly understand the reference and are motivated to share it.
BT taps football nostalgia with fan-inspired EURO 2028 poem
To celebrate BT becoming the Official Telecommunications Partner of UEFA EURO 2028, this week saw the launch of a new campaign centred on a fan-inspired poem performed by Frank Skinner, alongside football legends from across the Home Nations. Thirty years after co-writing Three Lions, Skinner returns to football storytelling with a piece designed to capture the rituals, emotion and shared experience of tournament football. The campaign blends nostalgia, national identity and fan culture to position BT at the centre of a major upcoming sporting moment.
Why it matters for PR & Marketing: The campaign draws on collective memory and emotional connection beyond the game itself. By bringing back Frank Skinner and referencing the legacy of Three Lions, BT creates instant familiarity and resonance for audiences who associate tournaments with shared cultural moments. The timing is also highly appropriate ahead of the upcoming FIFA World Cup, with BT drawing on existing hype and awareness among football fans.
Kopparberg leans into everyday escapism with ‘Bring Me Sunshine’ summer campaign
Kopparberg has launched its biggest-ever national campaign with Bring Me Sunshine, a £6m summer push spanning TV, social, streaming, out-of-home and in-store activity across the UK. Rather than focusing on idealised holiday imagery, the campaign centres on familiar summer moments like pub gardens, festivals and evenings with friends, positioning sunshine as a feeling rather than a forecast. The campaign also includes refreshed packaging, branded glassware and experiential pub activations designed to keep the brand visible throughout the season.
Why it matters for PR & Marketing: The campaign shifts away from polished summer advertising towards more grounded, relatable experiences. Kopparberg is tapping into escapism, familiarity and lived moments, themes that continue to shape consumer behaviour and brand storytelling. All backed by punchy consumer research, this is a great example of how integrated campaigns can work across physical, social and retail channels to maintain relevance beyond a single launch moment.
Final Thoughts
This week’s round-up shows how brands are increasingly leaning into familiarity, emotion and real-world experience to create campaigns that feel instantly recognisable and easy to engage with. From Gemma Collins bringing reality-TV energy into government messaging to Aldi’s Chelsea Flower Show stunt and BT’s football nostalgia play, the strongest campaigns were rooted in moments and behaviours audiences already connect with.
In a crowded landscape, cultural relevance and emotional familiarity continue to be some of the most effective ways for brands to create genuine cut-through.
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