50 Years of ADC: The Idea That Just Won't Die

The advertising industry has many talents. One of its greatest is sugarcoating things.

Cars are portrayed as more exciting, laundry detergent as more innovative, and insurance companies as more likable than they might be in everyday life. For decades, advertising has thrived on making reality seem a little more glamorous.

At the 2026 ADC Awards, the Grand Prix went to «Ortsschilder» by thjnk Zurich for Migros. A project that showcases just how creative Swiss advertising can be today. The People’s Choice Award, however, told a different story—a story about the longevity of ideas.

While the jury honored the most creative work of our time, the audience was reminded of an old truth that Godlieb Duttweiler would likely have appreciated: Truly great ideas age more slowly than organizations.

After all, Migros owes its existence to an idea called Dutti. Mobiliar owes its advertising success to an idea called “damage sketches.”.

In collaboration with 20 Minuten, the ADC sought to identify the most popular Swiss advertising campaign of the past five decades to mark its 50th anniversary. The selection included numerous advertising icons that have been part of the lives of generations of Swiss people. In the end, Mobiliar prevailed with its legendary damage sketches, relegating other cult figures from Swiss advertising history to second place.

Not a campaign about beauty. Not a campaign about success. Not a campaign about perfection.

Instead, it's a campaign about things that break.

An idea from real life

There’s hardly a campaign that better illustrates the power of great creativity.

The idea originated in the late 1990s from something surprisingly simple. Mobiliar repeatedly told its agency about curious insurance claims and the sometimes equally curious accounts provided by those involved. At the same time, a little book containing unusual letters to insurance companies was making the rounds. From these observations, the idea developed to place people’s own language at the center of communication.

«It actually started with the idea for the word,» recalls Matthias Freuler in an interview with m&k. Together with Art Director René Sanhauser, he developed that idea into the campaign that would later make advertising history.

It is worth noting that the famous damage sketches were not the first idea that was sold. Rather, numerous other proposals had to be presented first before those in charge decided on the solution that would later become one of the most successful Swiss advertising campaigns ever.

The genius of it was its simplicity. Advertising didn't invent stories. It found them.

When an idea outgrows its creators

However, that success also brought with it a challenge. The longer a campaign runs, the more difficult it becomes to keep it evolving.

Freuler admits that continuing the “damage sketches” has become increasingly challenging over the years. Finding new ideas that live up to his own standards isn’t getting any easier. At the same time, he doesn’t want to be the one who has to decide one day when to end such a campaign. Because with advertising icons of this magnitude, criticism often comes automatically: everything used to be better in the past.

That is precisely where the particular challenge of long-term brand management lies. At some point, a campaign is no longer competing with other campaigns, but with its own legend.

The Answer to the AI Question

The timing of this award could hardly have been more fitting.

This year's ADC event was entirely focused on the question that is currently on the minds of the creative industry: What role does human creativity play in the age of artificial intelligence?

In his anniversary speech, ADC President Thomas Wildberger reminded the audience that creative excellence requires more than just technology. He is convinced that no prompt can produce the kind of ideas that stay with people for decades and become part of the cultural memory. Creativity, he said, arises from observation, personality, and the pursuit of excellence.

The Mobiliar campaign seems to be practical proof of this theory. Its strength lies neither in data nor in algorithms. It arose from keen observation, curiosity, and an intuition for a human truth that millions of people understand immediately.

Why the campaign still works today

Perhaps that is also why these damage sketches have lost none of their impact, even after decades. They don't tell stories of insurance claims. They tell stories of people.

The campaign turned mishaps into little stories from everyday life. Claims reports became punchlines. An insurance company became a brand with personality.

The fact that the Swiss public has now voted Mobiliar’s campaign the most popular of the past five decades is therefore much more than just a nostalgic look back. It is a tribute to an idea that, to this day, demonstrates what advertising can achieve at its best: entertaining people, building trust, and remaining distinctive in the process.

While the industry often tries to make the world seem a little more beautiful, Mobiliar turned “breaking things” into its brand concept. Perhaps that is exactly what explains its success. The campaign never showed a perfect world—only the real one.

And that is precisely why it has remained relevant for decades. A strong idea can stand the test of time. Mobiliar has been proving this for nearly three decades. It makes you wonder why we don’t have more of these timeless classics…