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Is the axis of the developed world changing, with Jeremy Corbyn leading Labour and the pantomime villain Ronald Pump as the next US president? Surely not! Makes you wonder, though. Perhaps being loud and outspoken, with simple solutions to complex problems, is how you offer reassurance to those who are looking for answers. Have strategy, nuance, detail and complexity become old-fashioned, rejected in favour of loud, opinionated ideals? Are we in fact going back to move forward, with a return to ideology and authenticity in our increasingly complex world? We might not like this trend, but surely we can’t ignore it.

Anyway, let’s dive straight in. First up is the charity Sea Shepherd (5). OK, I could have chosen a better turn of phrase when referring to an anti-whaling campaign but, with subtlety off the menu, this ad is hard-hitting and memorable. With a powerful performance from David Field, it makes its point clearly and reminds us we are living in an unforgiving world that has become numb to shock, meaning you have to take it up a level.

It would be so easy to put the boot into Gocompare.com’s (2) "Gio returns", but you know what? I’m not going to. There is something quite charmingly "now" about this big, cheesy, full-of-trending-topics, working-every-trick-including-the-new-orchestral-arrangement spot. It’s a well-worked comeback that knows its primetime audience. You might not love it, but you’ll remember it and probably talk about it too. So Gio is back. All sounds very EastEnders, which means misery won’t be far away.

With Foster’s (1), we can see that times have changed in beer world with this bloke-doing-traditionally-feminine-activity spot. Apparently, it’s a potentially popular new trope for the category. Or is it merely catching up to ironically prove just how out of date the beverage sector is? Or is this approach of equality and natural confidence an authentic forward-looking move? I, for one, welcome the break from the past; it’s about bloody time.

"Do more" with Avios (3) is a seemingly clever way of mixing nudge theory with modern behavioural targeting. It recognises an important truth about our collection of loyalty points and uses more progressive media thinking – let’s call it "stalking" – to execute it. You set up ads to pester the "target" into spending those precious points, ideally on you. That’s so very "now". It should be a standout piece but the current material falls short. Perhaps it will be a grower, once you’ve realised you’re being followed. Actually, is not being followed by Avios going to be worse? Now, that’s a social dilemma. 

Finally, to Airbnb’s (4) "is mankind?". This brand is the sharing economy’s biggest poster child. This global campaign will resonate with its existing audience, who are easily the brand’s best advocates, although one wonders if the obvious gender insensitivity was settled by a scholastic reading of The Oxford English Dictionary. At its heart is a lofty idea that has drawn considerable comment and parody already. It’s really not a surprise, as this work continues to set Airbnb’s advertising apart from the standard travel industry it’s already disrupting. You might not like it or believe it, but the sense of ambition should be applauded. 

So outliers do have a place in making us think that bit differently. Keep asking why their approach works and attempting to understand their point of view. For these things all make us better, and that is what we all need to be.

It can be a little arrogant in our business to comment on work when we don’t know the brief, the hoops jumped through or the results.

So, in the spirit of a balanced piece, on top of my own views, I asked three groups of people what they thought of this week’s crop. The Gogglebox approach.

I looked at people consuming this stuff online, a little focus group of young people in the agency (the target audience for many of the pieces) and… my mum. While she’s not the target for many brands these days (more’s the pity), mums know best.

The Sea Shepherd (5) piece blew me away. People say work for causes is easier. But I would say it’s getting harder to have original ideas. With the main challenge for charities often to make people care about issues far away from their field of vision, this is an inspired way to take the seemingly intangible pain of a poor whale being slaughtered and bring it right into a language us humans can understand. Every member of the focus group found it "powerful" and "clever", as did a speechless Mum, who said: "Inspired."

I was taught early in my career that there are categories where people simply don’t care about the difference in products/services (who compares the comparers?) and so "top of mind" at any cost is a valid strategy. One arbitrary sentiment check suggests that while 33 per cent don’t like the new Gocompare.com (2) ad, 67 per cent do. That’s a lot of people still liking it. It’s polarising. Even Mum said "Oh, not him!" followed immediately by "you have a bit of a laugh". There’s no doubt the ad will get recall. The question is how much more they need and whether any recall is good recall.

Since the target for the Avios (3) piece is people with Avios, I just asked myself about this one. I’m one of those people who irrationally holds on to hundreds of thousands of air miles for no reason than perhaps that the total looks better than the reward seats you’ll ever find. This idea is smart – clever insight (loved ones can best provoke you to use Avios), clever problem-solving (get people to use Avios on non-flight rewards) and clever use of technology. I did feel that the idea was more beautiful and clear than the execution, but I had to remind myself that if they were actually my kids and their message following me around the internet, I’d be so impressed that I wouldn’t care.

Foster’s (1). Credit to anyone having the bravery to move on a long-term, seemingly successful idea ("good call"). There are moments here that make you smile. Only time will tell whether more chapters of "why the hell not" will connect with people as a state of mind more than "good call" or, indeed, the other great beer-brand shared values.

Airbnb (4). Charming questions about man’s kindness, charming baby. The group found it a stretch to connect this story to "why Airbnb?". But proving that after my 13 years in advertising Mum still knows best, she said: "But if you didn’t know what Airbnb was, you wouldn’t know what on earth it was on about… and there’s an awful lot of people who don’t know." So I’ll return to the start. I don’t know what the client brief was, but if it was to get new users to Airbnb, perhaps it won’t work. If it’s there to make existing users feel warm and fuzzy about why they do, perhaps it will. Whatever the case, I’ve always loved the line: "Belong anywhere."