Friday 28 August 2026: PR & Marketing Round-Up | Making the Familiar Unforgettable
Welcome back to this week's PR & Marketing News Round-Up from Visible PR.
This week’s campaigns show that making something familiar feel fresh can be just as powerful as creating something completely new. From McDonald’s turning everyday food runs into ‘Side Missions’ to Domino’s and Trainline rethinking what food delivery can look like on the move, brands are finding unexpected ways to fit into people’s lives. Meanwhile, Fanta’s ambitious new Halloween universe has sparked a very different conversation around AI-generated creativity, while Apple is putting human craft firmly in the spotlight.
As we get ready for the incoming long weekend, let's see what campaigns caught our eye...
Dolly Parton will always be a marketing icon
As the world said goodbye to the country music legend Dolly Parton this week, we spotted this roundup in Adweek that revisited some of her most memorable advertising work across the decades. From her early commercial appearances to more recent brand partnerships, Parton consistently brought the same warmth, humour and unmistakable personality to advertising as she did to her music and wider career. Her long history in commercials offers a fascinating look at how a distinctive personal brand can translate across industries and generations. Here’s to you Dolly!
Why it matters for PR & Marketing: Let’s face it, Dolly Parton always understood the value of being unmistakably herself. When she dipped her toe into the world of advertising and marketing, the power of her personality built memorable communications, with her humour, warmth and authenticity making even conventional brand messages feel distinctly hers. At a time when brands are increasingly searching for authentic voices and creator partnerships, her decades-long ability to turn personality into marketing equity is a useful lesson in the value of consistency.
Fanta's Haunted Universe faces an AI backlash
Fanta is turning Halloween into a year-round brand platform with Fanta's Haunted Universe, introducing original characters, stories and experiences designed to build its own spooky entertainment world. The ambition is big - rather than relying solely on established horror franchises, Fanta wants to create original IP that audiences can return to year after year. But the launch has also sparked significant criticism online, with audiences questioning the campaign's use of AI and branding some of the resulting creative as AI slop.
Why it matters for PR & Marketing: Fanta's strategy is interesting because it highlights the tension brands now face when using AI creatively. The ambition to build an entertainment platform around original IP is undoubtedly bold, but the backlash demonstrates that audiences are increasingly sensitive to how AI is used in creative work. Fanta may have succeeded in making people talk, but the question is whether the conversation is the one the brand had aimed for!
Apple proves its latest ad isn't AI-generated
From one brand that is facing AI backlash, to one that is openly taking steps to prove they aren’t using it for their latest campaign. Apple has taken the unusual step of showing audiences exactly how its latest ad was made, releasing behind-the-scenes footage to prove that the creative wasn't generated by AI. By pulling back the curtain on the production process, Apple puts human creativity and craftsmanship at the centre of the story.
Why it matters for PR & Marketing: In an era where AI-generated content is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish from traditional production, transparency itself can become a creative asset. Unlike Fanta in our previous story, Apple has turned the making of the advert into part of the campaign, giving audiences another reason to engage while reinforcing the value of human craft. It’s a clever reminder that sometimes showing how something was made can be just as interesting as the finished product.
McDonald's turns everyday errands into 'Side Missions'
McDonald's is celebrating the spontaneous food stops that happen in the middle of everyday life with its latest ‘Side Missions’ campaign. Teaming up with XBox, the campaign taps into the familiar moments when a quick trip somewhere turns into an unexpected McDonald's visit, whether that's stopping off with friends, taking a detour on a journey or finding an excuse to grab something to eat. By turning these unplanned detours into the hero of the campaign, McDonald's captures a relatable part of modern life and gives it a name.
Why it matters for PR & Marketing: Giving a name to a behaviour that audiences already recognise is a simple but powerful creative device. ‘Side Missions’ turns an everyday habit into a piece of brand language that people can identify with and share, while reinforcing McDonald's position as a spontaneous part of people's routines. It's another example of a brand finding a cultural truth in the ordinary and turning it into a distinctive campaign idea.
Domino's & Trainline bring pizza to your train seat
Domino's has partnered with Trainline to bring its pizza delivery service onto the railway this bank holiday weekend, allowing passengers to order their favourite Domino's meals through the Trainline app and have them delivered directly to their seats. The campaign takes the convenience of food delivery and applies it to an unexpected setting, turning a routine train journey into an opportunity for a pizza pit stop without passengers having to leave the carriage.
Why it matters for PR & Marketing: The partnership works because both brands are solving a very familiar travel problem: how to make journeys more convenient and enjoyable. By combining Trainline's role in helping people navigate their journeys with Domino's delivery proposition, the campaign creates a natural connection between two seemingly different services. It's also a strong example of how partnerships can unlock new use cases for established products, while creating a simple, highly visual PR story.
Final Thoughts
This week has been a reminder that the idea is only part of the story. Brands are finding fresh ways to reinterpret familiar behaviours, build worlds around seasonal moments and create unexpected partnerships, but audiences are also paying closer attention to how those ideas come to life.
Fanta’s AI backlash and Apple’s decision to showcase the human craft behind its latest campaign offer an interesting contrast, while McDonald’s and Domino’s show how a simple insight can create a strong idea without needing to reinvent the wheel. Ultimately, the campaigns that cut through are those that give people something worth noticing, whether that’s a laugh, a new experience, a sense of nostalgia or simply a reason to stop scrolling.
Ready to make your brand impossible to ignore? Visible creates impactful PR campaigns that get people talking. Let’s talk: hello@visiblepr.co.uk