For years I’ve battled with the word stunt. To me it always felt like the term cheapened what we do. Somehow it made the blood, sweat and tears that go into landing a message sound flippant. Now though, as I write my first column for Stunt Watch I’m trying on the word for size again. And you know what, it fits.

A brand moment might sound lofty, an activation does sound cool, but a stunt captures the disruptive, thought-provoking and genuinely interesting work that only PRs do well.

So on to the stunts that caught my eye this week.

I have a dream. One day I will open a crisp café. A restaurant dedicated to all the flavours, shapes, and sizes. But if this million-dollar idea were to fail, my back up plan would be to open a Pigs in Blankets Restaurant.

Sadly though, I’ve been scuppered by Aldi as they throw open the doors to the best single-minded dining experience since The McCain Roast Potato pop up of 2017.

The ‘Bottomless Pigs in Blanket Restaurant’ sold out in seconds, confirming that I would have been very rich if I’d just got my act together.

Coverage wise, this pop up cleaned up, showing what can be achieved if you do two simple things. Be pointed and don’t overthink it. Hat Tip to Clarion.

From pigs to thought-provoking stunts about the planet.

We all know that Fast Fashion is rubbish, but we need to be constantly reminded to break the habit. This simple label celebrating ‘third hand’ from Carhartt did just that while a genuinely decent CGI piece from The Verstaire Collective beautifully illustrated why old is often best

Keep Britain Tidy also hit the mark this week as they tackled buttheads who toss their cigarette butts with a great picture. Simple, effective and disgusting. Lovely work from photographer extraordinaire Mike Buck and Good Relations.

And finally…

From pigs and the planet, to a pastiche.

IKEA – the masters of newsjacking – took aim at Balenciaga again.

Behold, the towel skirt.

The lesson from IKEA is a simple one. Just do it.

HT to Hope and Glory / IKEA

This week's PR Stunt Watch was written by Gavin Lewis, Creative Director at TIN MAN

PR Stunt watch is a regular column on PRmoment. Subscribe to our editorial updates to get this feature every week.