Articles from AdWeek Advertising and branding

According to the U.S. government, more than 50 million of our children head off to school each morning, and roughly 32 million will eat the lunch prepared by the cafeteria ladies. That means 18 million kids brown-bag it.  Photo: Todd Huffman; Prop Syling: Helen Quinn Or, lunch-box it. While media and marketing vehicles geared to youngsters are trending digital, here’s something to chew on: Lunch boxes have, functionally speaking, barely changed at all.

For all of Lean In's strongly phrased criticisms of the modern corporate world, author Sheryl Sandberg still seems to spark the most debate with one seemingly inoccuous opinion: that we shouldn't call girls "bossy." "When a girl tries to lead, she is often labeled bossy," Sandberg wrote. "Boys are seldom called bossy because a boy taking the role of a boss does not surprise or offend." Since Lean In's publication a year ago this week, Sanberg continues to draw criticism for her belief that girls should be praised for leadership skills rather than being called bossy.

Considering that Dos Equis' "Most Interesting Man in the World" has become a meme with thousands of crowdsourced iterations, the bar is set pretty high for new official ads in the series. But this one seems up to the task. In "Dogsled" from agency Havas Worldwide, His Interestingness valet parks a team of huskies, rescues man and fish alike from a blaze, second-guesses a surgeon and, uh, gives a young lady a pearl necklace. It's probably one of the campaign's better spots in recent memory.

If you ever need to outrun an elaborately exploding array of wooden tongue depressors, a remote-controlled Subaru might just be the vehicle for you. The brand's two-minute spot, "WRX STI vs. StickBomb" is packed with dramatic visuals of the miniature car drifting around curves and jumping over ramps while the wooden sticks fly into the air all around. It's like Fast and Furious for kids—a playful idea that seems to let the brand hint at the car's street racing abilities without showing off a bunch of dangerous driving scenarios that could land the automaker in court.