Risk and reward; playing it safe is a creative dead end

Playing it safe isn’t just boring, it’s a creative dead end. There. I said it.

For too long, entertainment and advertising have been stuck in a cautious loop, weighed down by fear of inflation, post-strike hangovers and an endless list of excuses which cause us to clutch our pearls instead of roll the dice. 

2025 is our chance to shake things up.

But here’s the thing: safe doesn’t sell. Safe doesn’t surprise. Safe is forgettable.

2025 is our chance to shake things up. To ditch the ordinary and embrace the wild, the weird, the wonderful. Bold, offbeat concepts aren’t just fun, they’re the lifeblood of impactful advertising. Risk isn’t reckless; it’s an invitation to pull audiences into something new, exciting and memorable. The alternative is another round of spoon-fed content that no one asked for and, let’s be real, being spoon-fed is awkward for everyone involved.

Above: In 2025, it's time to take some creative leaps, says Emma Debany. 

As WW7’s captain of Team Risk (jerseys in production), my specialty is helping collaborators leap out of their comfort zones and into the exhilarating unknown. I love shepherding agency and client partners along on this journey. 

When they trust me (and their better instincts) risk isn’t just a creative thrill, it’s a strategic investment. It transforms forgettable campaigns into cultural touchstones and builds brands that audiences fall in love with. 

Getting bold work greenlit isn’t always easy, but it’s worth the effort to try something new.

So, let’s make 2025 the year we bet big, get bold and create ads that people actually want to watch. Not just ads that play the game, but ones that redefine it. 

The magic of the unexpected

Getting bold work greenlit isn’t always easy, but it’s worth the effort to try something new, chiefly becauae we need to make space to allow audiences to be surprised by concepts and styles they don’t even know they like yet. It’s our duty (and privilege) to introduce them to new aesthetics, ideas and catchphrases, and I think we need to give audiences a little more credit and assume that not only will they like new takes on ubiquitous brands, but that they want them. 

Did Arby’s envision a universe wherein noted weirdo Kyle MacLachlan plays a cult leader version of himself who’s obsessed with potato cakes? Not exactly. They wanted to sell potato cakes to commemorate their 60th anniversary. But, bringing Special Agent Dale Cooper and the fake mayor of Portlandia to the screen primed audience expectations for something cult-worthy and weird to happen – something like a glistening beacon of deliciousness harkening to him in the woods beyond the drive-thru. 

This wasn’t just about potato cakes; it was about creating a moment of peak strangeness and delightfully weird humour. It was something unexpected and a little untested for the brand. It made audiences say, “I didn’t know I needed this”, just like the potato cakes themselves. This is the magic of bold, unexpected ideas: they don’t just sell; they spark curiosity, interest, and ultimately engagement.

Above: Kyle MacLachlan returns as a version of Twin Peaks' Agent Cooper in a bold campaign for Arby's. 

Where high-stakes ideas go to play

The thing about commercials is, with their natural brevity, they are the perfect proving ground for new, innovative ideas and techniques. We’re in an industry literally built for bold moves. Taking risks with a commercial-sized budget (and runtime) is far less daunting than with those of a feature-length film. If the idea fails, clients can replace the air time with other recent spots that worked, and for most big corporations, it’s not a huge loss. 

Which is not to say that any of us should be cavalier with our jobs or clients’ money, but in a medium with lower risk and higher reward for trying something new, history shows us the payoff. 

Risky, innovative commercials that break form are where we get some of our most instantly recognisable cultural touchstones.

Risky, innovative commercials that break form are where we get some of our most instantly recognisable cultural touchstones: “Can you hear me now?” from Verizon. “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up”, for Life Call. The Dumb Ways To Die earworm originated in an Australian PSA about rail safety. If I mention Sarah McLachlan (no relation to Kyle) within a commercial context, I bet you instantly know what spot I’m talking about. 

Advertising is an art form—a genre of filmmaking in its own right. It’s where culture, commerce, and creativity intersect. We must once again embrace it as the playground for bold ideas that it’s always been. Let’s make it count.

Above: Dumb Ways to Die's ultimate ear worm was a risk that reaped rewards. 

Down to clown: the bold impact of comedy

Comedy presents one of the biggest opportunities to take creative risks. Humour in commercials isn’t just a crowd-pleaser, it’s a cultural catalyst. We all love work that stands out but, too often, advertising feels like a waiting game for someone else to take the first leap. 

Playing it safe feels secure, but safe comedy is predictable and ultimately boring.

If Taco Bell jumped off a bridge, would KFC? If they saw McDonald's land safely, then maybe. That’s the hesitation behind risk-taking in comedy: playing it safe feels secure, but safe comedy is predictable and ultimately boring, and good agency creatives know it. 

So, what happens when we embrace unpredictability? Take my series of work for Totino’s. I went all-in on acid-trip-surreal, skating the edges of what we call humour (and my EP calls 'weirdvertising'). On paper, sure, it looked odd (a monster made entirely out of pizza rolls who lives in the freezer aisle and communicates mainly with lip licking?) but in practice, with a confident and bold team behind it, this strangeness allowed Totino’s to nestle into the perfect pocket where Gen-Z, stoners, chronic snackers and weirdos live.