US Creative Works: Featuring SS+K, GSD&M, Pitch and more

2016 has become notorious for a number of reasons, not the least of which being the post-election fake news scandal that has embroiled Facebook in recent weeks.

For the holidays, DigitasLBi is having a little bit of fun with the ongoing fake news debacle via a quiz that pits fake articles against real ones. Dubbed “Happy Non-Fake News Year 2017,” those who take the quiz are asked to sniff out real news stories among a sea of fake ones.

Of course, the real and reputable stories aren’t always easy to identify – for example, one of the real stories in the quiz is a piece from The Guardian headlined “Chimpanzee seen smoking at North Korea’s reopened zoo". Another real story is a BBC article entitled “Police apologise for ‘nee-nah or woo-woo’ school siren debate".

While the real news articles in the quiz are all bizarre in their own right, the hoax ones that DigitasLBi created are just as odd and entertaining. One reads “Bill Gates credits health to avoiding apples since early ‘80s”, while another proclaims that the Movember movement has been linked to a rise in August births.

But the quiz isn’t just all fun and games. For every correct guess, DigitasLBi is donating to Girls Write Now, an organization that trains and provides guidance to young aspiring writers in New York City.

For the holidays, 22squared has created a special Instagram account called @TheFeedThatFeeds that features pictures of dishes from top chefs in Tampa and Atlanta (cities where the agency is has offices). Every time a viewer "likes" one of the food photos, hungry and homeless individuals will be fed by the restaurant tagged in the photo. For instance, if you like the tacos photo from Verde Taqueria in Georgia, they will donate a meal to families in need. The food will be delivered by 22squared employees to a partner food bank or non-profit organization. In addition, when the feed receives more than 300 "likes," 22squared will make a monetary donation of $1 to Feeding America (up to $2,000). The food drive ends on Dec. 31. 

Every year, LA-based shop Pitch creates pop culture holiday cookies to commemorate the biggest moments of the year. This year's cookies feature Brexit, Melania Trump, the Chewbacca Mom and more.  

For the holidays, SS+K has created a virtual reality bobsledding experience that users can watch via Google Cardboard.

This year, GSD&M's holiday gift is "Rooftop Honey" that was made on the agency's rooftop by honey bees. The agency is also giving out unique recipe cards for “Buzz Booze” and “Bee Butter” to go along with the honey.

To create the perfect holiday card, CP+B held focus groups and conducted an online survey to receive "qualitative and quantitative feedback." The findings and winning card can be found at www.happyqualidays.com. 

For the holidays, digital agency Firstborn has created a VR tower defense survival game called "Nick" that is debuting on the HTC Vive VR platform. 

This year, Iris has created an Ad Generator that lets users pick preferences to create their own personalized holiday ad.