Our Favourite Social Media Campaigns so Far in 2021

We are just over halfway through 2021… so what’s been going on in the world of social media? 

As usual, things have evolved rapidly! TikTok ditched its short-form video – meaning users can now post videos up to three minutes long on the social media platform- LinkedIn told us the 4 secret ingredients to successful B2B video and Twitter is testing a new way to display tweets that will link directly to e-commerce pages! 

During the whirlwind of social media evolution, we’ve been keeping an eye for you on the UK’s much-loved brands (both big and small) and wanted to share with you our favorite social media campaigns so far in 2021. So… let’s get going!

Cadbury’s Virtual Easter Egg Hunt

With a second Easter in lockdown, Cadburys found a way to generate some fun whilst we were all stuck at home… enter Cadbury’s virtual egg hunt! 

Users could hide a virtual egg for their friends or family by choosing a location of importance around the UK to hide the egg and leave a clue for their loved one. A link was sent to the chosen egg hunter who would have to search for the egg using a virtual map. Once found, a real Cadbury’s Easter Egg was dispatched and sent to their home! 

Over a million people across the UK participated in the nationwide egg hunt, and many hailed Cadbury’s for keeping us connected with our loved ones over the Easter holidays that for some, was very lonely.

Zoom’s Virtual Background Contest

It’s been over a year since Zoom became one of the most downloaded apps in the UK last year, becoming one of our favourite ways to catch up with friends, family and work colleagues.

One of the beloved features of Zoom is the ability to hide your backdrop and replace it with a background – no decorated backdrop, no problem! 

Zooms challenged its Twitter followers to create the most creative backdrop – above were the winners! After over 12 months of working from home, this little bit of humour and human connection brought a smile to a disconnected world until we’re back in the office again.

KFC slogan change

We’ve known and loved KFC’s slogan for over 64 years #FingerLickin’Good – however, earlier this year when Coronavirus was still rife, KFC gave us a giggle by temporarily ditching their slogan. 

From #FingerLickin’Good…. to #UntilWeCanFingerLickAgain. 

Don’t panic though, the original slogan was officially reinstated in May!

Cuthbert v Colin

We couldn’t talk about our favorite social media campaigns of the year without discussing one of the most shocking legal cases in 2021…  Colin v Cuthbert!

When M&S put in a legal claim against Aldi’s Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake claiming it was too similar to M&S’ original Colin the Caterpillar, social media erupted. Aldi pleaded for an alliance between the caterpillars, calling on M&S to drop the legal case and instead give the money to charity. 

As it stands, the legal case is still going through the court process. If M&S wins, Cuthbert will be discontinued in the Aldi stores and they will be banned from selling similar products. Are you Team Colin or Team Cuthbert?

Dove’s #NoDigitalDistortion

A discussion hot in the press when it comes to social media at the moment is influencers editing their photos on social media, which promotes unrealistic beauty standards to impressionable teenagers on the platform. To this Dove said ‘enough is enough’! 

In April, Dove posted a short video on Instagram. The video begins with a young girl’s selfie being posted to Instagram. As the video progresses, we move back in time. We see the selfie become unedited, the girl's hair return to natural and her makeup taken off, leaving her sitting on the bed bare-faced. 

Dove’s empowerment move encourages conversations with young girls about the reality of life vs how they appear online. This is definitely our favourite campaign of the year so far, well done Dove!

So there we have it… the social media campaigns we’ve seen so far in 2021 haven’t disappointed, and we can’t wait to see what’s to come! We’ll be back at the end of the year to countdown our 10 favourite social media campaigns of the whole year, but will any of the above make our list?!