- The Hidden Gems: Uncovered
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- The Hidden Gems Newsletter - Mission Impossible Parody & Cannes
The Hidden Gems Newsletter - Mission Impossible Parody & Cannes
The Hidden Gems: Uncovered
David Drexler
June 17, 2025
Welcome to The Hidden Gems Monthly Randomly timed Newsletter: #3
For more information on what The Hidden Gems is: Either click here to unveil the person behind it, reply to this email with 80 Gem Emojis 💎, or scroll to the bottom of this email. If you work in advertising, marketing, creative, media, experiential, digital, or some funky combination - we welcome you to stick around.
What’s (un)covered in this newsletter?
Marketing & Advertising Industry news.
New brands served in 2025, shown via Mission Impossible (…you’ll see).
Also some philosophizing, and a question for the audience.
Now, on with the show
Advertising Industry News
Creative Agency Madwell shuts down. There was some drama and financial mismanagement behind the scenes. Here’s the details & timeline.
This one has been blowing up my LinkedIn feed: Disney approved Kalshi’s fully AI-generated ad that recently went live during NBA Finals last week. What does this mean for the creative industry?
Mega consultancy EY launches EY Studio+. Integrating numerous EY acquisitions.
WPP vs Publicis feud. Public bashing of one ad holdco against another is surprisingly rare. But they’re at it. WPP is accusing Publicis of low-quality ads, specifically via Epsilon. Publicis lashing back, claiming a lack of effective innovation. The CEOs may even run into each other in Cannes. That’ll be… awkward.
Speaking of… Cannes Lion Festival of Creativity is happening right now. Here’s a great article from Business Insider on what will be the talk of the town. Or are the parties and celebrities like Sebastian Maniscalco and Cardi B more your style?
New Work in 2025 (so far)
For the past few months I’ll admit there was struggle… figuring out how to best show the work. Truth is, not everything CAN be shown, or is always allowed to be shown. BUT no one can stop us from entertaining. So moving forward, we’ll be showing new “brands served” in fun, creative, silly ways. For any questions on the actual work itself and what went on - just reach out and ask.
Now… Hopping aboard the resurgence of Tom Cruise popularity, we call this… Mission Impossible: Brand Reckoning.
A very tasteful, subtle homage to the Mission Impossible franchise. See if you can spot it.
Brands shown are new engagements that initiated in 2025.
However, some past (yet still recent) work from some Hidden Gems can be seen through these two playlists. Playlist 1 | Playlist 2
Note: This only showcases creative-led work (Content, Experiential, Design) as it’s the most visibly flashy, but do know that much much more goes on. Curious about the teams behind any piece of work? The cost, timeline? Just ask!
Philosophical Musing
The Surgeon Paradox subverts our expectations. Positing that when there’s two people of equal pedigree (school, grades, etc), the one who does not “look the part” may actually be the superior performer, because they achieved all the same while also overcoming bias against their atypical appearance.
What are your favorites?
Last newsletter we covered some creative favorites. Now we want to hear from you. What are your favorite creative works of all time, and what are your favorites from 2024? Can be an incredibly designed website, clever commercial, compelling experiential activation, or something else.
What the heck is “The Hidden Gems”?
The Hidden Gems was founded by David Drexler to solve for the frequent inefficiencies in the Advertising Agency & Production landscape. We believe that smaller is often better, and the most optimal partners have yet to be discovered.
We are THE Agency & Production Matchmaker. The secret weapon of many marketers, creatives, experientialists, innovators, and producers. When they seek recommendations on which external partners to consider for engagement… we provide them with incredible Hidden Gems worth considering, that are otherwise flying under their radar. Literally that simple. No paperwork nor transactions ever needed with The Hidden Gems itself.
We find that great work and results manifest with partners that have top notch process, people, and prices. Reach out to us at any time for questions, needs, inspiration, gutchecks… or a laugh.