Friday 21 November 2025: PR & Marketing News Round-Up: PETA Christmas Ad, Viral TikTok Food Market, Itsu, Coca-Cola Christmas Truck & Nike’s Soup ShopParty Food
It’s Friday and here’s a fresh PR & Marketing News Round-Up to spark your weekend inspiration! From iconic brand traditions returning stronger than ever, to hilarious cultural collaborations and innovative experiential activations, this week’s top stories offer lessons in creativity, community connection, and cultural relevance.
Read on for campaigns that capture attention, stir emotion, and drive true talkability through smart storytelling and clever engagement….
PETA UK uses bold storytelling in Christmas advert
A provocative new advert is turning heads for its dark, comic twist on festive traditions, encouraging viewers to “choose compassion over carnage”. The campaign, from animal welfare group PETA UK, reimagines the typical warm Christmas dinner, only to reveal the unsettling reality of what’s on our plates. Rather than simply shocking for effect, the advert uses humor and exaggeration to highlight how the ritual of carving up animals at Christmas is deeply normalized, yet rarely questioned.
Why it matters for PR & Marketing: Through bold storytelling, this campaign demonstrates how emotional triggers can spark powerful conversations and drive brand visibility, even when tackling controversial subjects. By leaning into shock value and dark humor, the campaign breaks through the holiday ad clutter, standing out from the usual feel-good fare and getting people talking.
Try a selection of the best viral dishes at new London food market
A top UK food influencer has launched a new food market dedicated entirely to TikTok-viral dishes, reflecting the social media-driven evolution of food trends and consumer tastes. Dubbed “Tod’s Festive Feast,” the market has been created by the influencer known as Eating With Tod, bringing together a lineup of stalls serving up internet-famous foods that first exploded on TikTok. For fans of viral recipes and followers of influencer culture, this food market is for you, offering a real-world taste of TikTok’s biggest food crazes, all curated by a leading digital tastemaker.
Why it matters for PR & Marketing: In recent years, we turn to social media to choose where we eat and this activation taps directly into that habit, especially when it comes to reaching Gen Zs and Millennials who discover and share food experiences that they’ve seen trending online. The concept highlights the growing importance of collaborating with influential creators and leveraging up-to-the-minute digital trends for campaign planning and product launches - using the cultural currency of influencers to shape conversation, drive hype, and bring to life social buzz.
Itsu launches playful Christmas campaign
Itsu’s Christmas campaign features internet meme legend the Wealdstone Raider starring in a tongue-in-cheek, anti-Christmas ad about gyoza and gloom. The video recreates the infamous 2014 viral clip, but instead of football banter he dishes out dim sum, with new lines like “Do you want dim sum? We’ll give it ya.” The campaign plays on nostalgia, humour, and the unexpected, contrasting typical festive ads.
Why it matters for PR & Marketing: The advert leverages nostalgia and memorable internet culture, tapping into the original meme’s wide recognition and ongoing relevance, even among Gen Z consumers. It also helps differentiate Itsu amongst a crowded seasonal landscape by offering an anti-Christmas narrative with dry British humour, helping the brand to break through at a busy time and become more culturally relevant.
Nike launches pop up soup stall
The latest campaign from Nike is a pop-up soup stall called Songyuan, on Ersha Island, a hub for local runners. Co-created with Olympic sprinter Su Bingtian, this “recovery soup shop” blends traditional Cantonese herbal soups with post-run wellbeing, served with a Nike-branded spoon and under the tagline “No effort goes unrewarded.” The activation is not a flashy trainer launch; it’s designed as a community-first experience that embeds Nike in authentic local rituals.
Why it matters for PR & Marketing: The hyper-local cultural integration taps into a sporting ritual in a runners’ hotspot and collaborating with a local icon, Nike signals respect for community values and enhances local relevance, especially for Gen Z consumers who crave authenticity. The campaign invites real-world participation (complete a 3km run for soup; special workshop for 9.83km finishers), creating memorable, postable experiences that are likely to be shared on social channels, boosting organic reach. We love this.
Final Thoughts
This week’s round-up highlights how brands are standing out with clever cultural insight, nostalgia, and community connection. From the iconic Coca-Cola Christmas Truck touring 15 UK cities, Itsu’s revival of the Wealdstone Raider meme delivering dry British humour against the usual festive fare, to Nike’s innovative pop-up soup shop blending local food culture and sports recovery rituals, not forgetting the latest viral food trends market and PETA UK’s bold campaign, each activity delivers surprise and relevance that grabs attention and sparks meaningful conversation.
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