The agency’s New York chief creative officer shares exclusive insight into the stout brand’s ‘Lovely Day’ outdoor campaign, which spanned all 50 states in the US.

Back in April of this year, Uncommon’s US shop unveiled its first campaign, titled ‘Lovely Day,’ for Irish stout maker Guinness. It captured – over a pint of the black stuff – what unites people and the moments of shared passions that bring us together.

The campaign name is a nod to the revered ads of the 1930s and 1950s from Guinness, which, alongside the recognizable toucan drawn by John Gilroy, are a huge part of its history… in the UK and Europe. For Americans, that 100-year-old legacy wasn’t quite as prevalent.

“Its inception started with forgetting everything we knew,” explains Uncommon’s New York chief creative officer Sam Shepherd. “We had to forget all the iconic advertising revered by the industry bubble, and instead, really listen to the unique challenge at hand.”

He explains that research conducted by his team found that Guinness only had 0.5% brand recognition in the US. “In a country that doesn’t know Guinness, at a time when we’ve never been more divided, we had to push for an idea that transcends traditional advertising,” Shepherd continued. “This was a chance to reintroduce a beloved brand to America, and in return, show the country a side of itself it doesn’t normally get a chance to see.”

To coincide with the hero film, a mammoth and crucial part of the campaign was the out-of-home (OOH) aspect. The creative team took the opportunity to play with scale and do so at a national level by rolling out billboards in all 50 states. Shepherd states that at the studio, they believe that the “true potential” of outdoor advertising is “rarely” tapped into, and this was an opportunity to turn that on its head.

“Not a singular execution plastered all over, but 50 individual reflections of goodness, one for every state - the entire media buy working in unison to show the country a side of itself it never gets a chance to see,” he added. “It became a gallery as big as America, every image a new lens to show all the goodness that actually exists if we just take a moment to see it. Because when we see each other, we lift each other.”

Each poster is unique, showcasing the likes of basketball games, horse riding, camping trips, running clubs and surf schools. It’s a ‘reinterpretation’ of what the concept of a lovely day means. “Maybe it’s not what we’re being fed by influencers on social and talking heads on the mainstream media,” elaborates Shepherd. “Joy and goodness are not reserved for a select few; Maybe a lovely day belongs to anyone who simply stops to see the things that truly matter in life: each other.”

In many ways, this approach serves as the opposite of interruption-based advertising, thanks to its emotional depth and grand scale. Rather than relying on shock tactics, the campaign focuses on deeply human experiences, which are subtle, relatable moments that resonate. Yet, beneath this thoughtful storytelling, its worth remembering that there’s a familiar goal: to persuade you to buy Guinness.

“The endeavor is in the pursuit of work that does not feel like the normal slog of advertising. The ambition to do things the hard way, the right way,” notes the creative leader. “And above all, the lengths you have to go to capture the visceral spirit of an entire nation.”

He explains that, to do this, it was “crucial” for Uncommon to partner with Magnum Photography to give the “authority” who are the “archivists of human emotion” in all its vulnerable beauty.

Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices in Paris, New York City, London and Tokyo. It was founded in 1947 in the French capital.

“You can’t fake that stuff,” Shepherd states. “People have depth and soul and aspirations. In short, it’s a return to true art and the assumption that OOH has far more potential than a one-off LinkedIn-only execution just in time for Cannes. If used right, can OOH actually move a nation? Those are the questions that matter.”

If there’s one perception about outdoor advertising that the studio wants to change with this project, it's that media should always be “part of the narrative” and it's not “separate from creative”.

Shepherd says: “In a time of slick AI renderings and overly-curated ‘versions’ of life, sometimes the most radical ideas of all are the simplest: real life.”

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