July was not a quiet month. In fact, there was a lot of noise. Like a lot!
The FIFA World Cup turned living rooms, bars and social feeds into one enormous stadium, giving brands a global stage for real-time reactions, fan rituals and stories built around belief—even when the final whistle delivered heartbreak.
At the movies, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey became a full-scale cultural event before Spider-Man: Brand New Day swung into theaters on July 31 and delivered the second-biggest opening weekend in history. The two films made Tom Holland and Zendaya nearly impossible to escape—and, frankly, audiences seemed perfectly happy with that arrangement.
Meanwhile, AI continued moving from industry talking point to everyday behavior. The conversation was no longer simply about what the technology might eventually do, but how people are already using it, trusting it and occasionally making a spectacular mess with it. That tension gave advertisers fresh material while reinforcing a larger industry shift toward practical, human-centered uses of AI.
The month’s standout advertising reflected all of it. Different categories. Different tones. Different ambitions.
But the best work shared one thing: it understood the moment it was entering and found an entertaining way to join the conversation without merely chasing it.
In case you missed them, here are Reel 360’s best ads of July 2026.
Farmers Insurance | “Honesty Is Our Policy”
Farmers Insurance is putting clarity at the center of a major new brand platform and enterprise-wide rebrand designed to make coverage easier for consumers to understand.
Created with Dentsu Creative, “Honesty Is Our Policy” is built around a straightforward idea: one of the most important things an insurance company can do is clearly explain what a policy covers, what it does not, and what the fine print actually means.
OpenAI | “This is the New ChatGPT Voice”
How do you convince people that talking to AI has finally become natural? If you’re OpenAI, you don’t start with engineers or influencers. You hand the microphone to Grandma.
For the launch of GPT-Live, OpenAI has unveiled a charming, nearly four-minute campaign featuring three grandmothers putting ChatGPT’s latest voice technology to the test. The result is less of a product demo and more of a conversation, exactly the point.
Created in-house, the film introduces GPT-Live by showing what the technology actually feels like rather than explaining how it works. One grandmother begins by knitting a sweater while introducing the feature before asking ChatGPT to explain the technology “in simpler terms.” From there, the women casually bounce between planning a vacation to Santorini, fact-checking information for a lecture and translating French in real time.
Kia | “A Real SUV”
Kia America is going small by thinking big. The automaker has launched a new 360-degree campaign for the all-new 2027 Kia Seltos, and the work from longtime creative agency David&Goliath gives the compact SUV segment a playful little shove.
The centerpiece is a 30-second spot titled A Real SUV, which positions the second-generation Seltos as a bigger, bolder, and smarter entry SUV. The campaign uses a sharp visual metaphor: while the Seltos moves confidently through real-world driving scenarios, competing compact SUVs are rendered as toy-like stand-ins, underscoring that not every small SUV is built the same.
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Morgan & Morgan | “Merman“
Legal advertising isn’t exactly known for subtlety. It’s a category dominated by stern attorneys, dramatic testimonials, and endless promises to “fight for you.” Morgan & Morgan has spent the last few years gleefully ignoring all of that.
Its latest “Power Move” campaign installment, “Merman,” may be the firm’s funniest work yet—a perfectly absurd 60-second spot that proves memorable advertising often begins with a single ridiculous question: What if your lifeguard were actually a merman?
Nike | “We’re Not Mad, We’re English”
Nike has long celebrated football’s biggest moments, but its latest World Cup campaign reminds fans that belief can matter just as much as victory. Created by Wieden+Kennedy London and directed by ILLIMITÉWORLD through Love Song, the film was conceived, shot and finished in less than 48 hours, timed to England’s FIFA World Cup 2 – 1 semifinal loss to Argentina.
The spot stars Wayne Rooney, who embodies the unwavering optimism of England supporters despite decades of World Cup heartbreak. Sporting St. George’s Cross face paint, Rooney responds to a skeptical deli worker who suggests England fans are “out of their minds” for believing football is coming home.
And that’s it for the Best of July. See you next month!
Colin Costello is the West Coast Editor of Reel 360 News. Contact him at colin@reel360.com or follow him on LinkedIn.
