Zuckerberg kills his Metaverse.

This week: Samsung extends VFX campaigns, butt-controlled 3D billboards and some thoughts on an Oscars-winning duo.

March 20, 2026 • fast-forward

If you liked this newsletter, please forward it to someone who might like it too. If you didn’t like it, feel free to send it to someone you don’t like. 🫶

Ok now, let’s get into what happened this week. 🚀

**✅ Mark Zuckerberg kills his Metaverse. **Meta is reportedly scaling back its metaverse ambitions after its Reality Labs division racked up roughly $80B in losses since 2020, shifting focus instead toward AI and META glasses.

✅ Seedance vs Hollywood has entreated its second round.

ByteDance has paused the global rollout of its AI video generator Seedance after major Hollywood studios issued cease-and-desist letters over copyright concerns.The decision follows legal pressure from major studios concerned about how the model handles copyrighted material, likeness and stylistic replication.

✅  This 3D billboard is literally a butt-controlled game

After taking over digital ads, gamification is now moving into out-of-home.

The reason is simple: brands need to drive immediate engagement, not just impressions — turning billboards into interactive experiences.

This campaign by Prost8, created with TBWA\MCR and powered by Ocean Outdoor, shows what that looks like. Using skeletal tracking, the billboard lets passersby control a game through their body movement

— ultimately reinforcing the message that your health is in your hands.

✅ Samsungs doubles down on VFX collabs in 2026

Samsung is once again partnering with some of the biggest VFX creators online to promote its latest Galaxy release. After collaborating with around 40 VFX artists last year, the brand is continuing to lean into creator-led CGI to turn product features into highly shareable visual moments.

This year’s lineup includes creators like @lenny_motion, @jameschoe, @100.pixels, @slava_makshun and @kristheorin — each bringing their own visual style to the campaign.

Check out our top three picks:

Lenny’s ad

James’s ad

Mostafa’s ad

✅ YouTube is asking users to flag AI slop

YouTube is currently testing a feature that asks viewers to rate whether a video feels like low-quality, AI-generated content.

The goal is to use crowd feedback to better detect and limit low-quality AI videos as they increasingly flood recommendations.

SUBMIT NOW

💡 INDUSTRY DEEP DIVE

A thought on creative partnership

On Sunday, Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler won their first Oscars.

But what stuck wasn’t just the award — it was how many people talked about them as a creative duo.

Not a one-off collaboration, but something that’s been building over years. You can feel that in the work. There’s a level of trust and understanding that just doesn’t happen overnight.

The world is becoming more and more digital, less onset productions, more remote work and even client relationships happen more online than offline.

The nurturing ground for relationships like this is becoming less and less.

So if you’re looking for more of that,  here are a some great places where it actually happens this year:

  • OFFF Barcelona

    📍 Barcelona 🗓️ 16th-18th April

    For: Motion designers, 3D artists, creative developers, digital designers, studios

  • Forward Festival

    📍 Vienna, Berlin, Frankfurt 🗓️ Multiple dates throughout the year

    For: Designers, illustrators, 3D artists, freelancers, small studios

  • FITC

    📍 Toronto  🗓️ 27th-28th April 

    For: Motion designers, 3D artists, creative technologists, AI creatives, developers

  • D&AD Festival

    📍 London  🗓️ 19th-20th May 

    For: Designers, agencies, art directors

  • AWEXR 

    📍 California  🗓️ 27th-28th June 

    For: AR/VR creators, spatial computing, 3D + immersive tech

🧠 WEEKLY AI CREATIVE

Instead of showing you a favorite ad of ours this week, we wanted to try something new.

The idea is simple: Take the tools everyone’s talking about, build a creative concept around it, and show what actually works (and what doesn’t).

No theory. No vague “AI will change everything.”Just real outputs, real workflows, and prompts you can actually use.

CHECK OUT OUR FIRST AD TEST

Want to discover FOOH, DOOH & CGI Ads examples?

Explore our Library

Share: Copy Link Email LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Twitter / X