According to Kantar’s Creative Effectiveness Awards, the most effective global marketing work of 2022 included pieces from Starbucks, KFC, and Cadbury, and humor played a leading role. Kantar considered 13,000 pieces of creative from last year.

“Our biggest overriding theme this year is that we saw a sort of escapism and otherworldly nostalgia emerge with some campaigns flying into the past and some that are shooting into the future," Polly Wynn Jones, global knowledge manager at Kantar, told AdWeek. Wynn Jones pointed to the easing of COVID-19 rules and the onset of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Humor was on ample display in Kantar’s selections for the top 10 digital and social campaigns, which were led by Mondelez’s 30-second online edit of a TV campaign for Cadbury Dairy Milk.

The list of TV honorees was topped by KFC France’s “Héritage” film, where a late-night employee at the fast food chain was whisked away to help the Colonel concoct “Crispy” menu items in his kitchen. Among other themes in use were escapism, nostalgia, and experiential aspects, according to Kantar.

Starbucks led winners for print and outdoor advertising with its “Starbucks Chilled Coffee” campaign, which Kantar identified for how it carried the brand’s message simply and creatively. As Bloomberg reported late last year, Kantar found what it called a “steady decline” in funny ads over the prior two decades. “What has changed,” Kantar wrote, “is an increased fear of using humor inappropriately.”

Now, Kantar sees a slight uptick in humor, noting, “Ads are starting to make people smile again.” A particular case in point, according to the firm, was the Heineken 0.0 ad “When you drive never drink (Riding is still driving),” which manages to tickle the funny bone while encouraging safety.