Reel Chicago Archives · Reel Chicago News

CREATIVE

Dove Men+Care turns stadium chant into World Cup rally

By Reel Chicago May 26, 2026

BBDO Chicago is helping Dove Men+Care tap directly into the emotional chaos of soccer fandom with a new FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign built around one simple truth: fans put the...

CHICAGO MADE

The Chi Season 8 debut lands in Paramount+ Top 10

By Barbara Roche May 26, 2026

Just days after its streaming debut on Paramount+, The Chi has climbed into the platform’s Top 10 in the United States, signaling a strong start for the drama’s eighth and ...

ONE CHICAGO

Chicago Med Showrunner teases more conflict and love in Season 12

By Barbara Roche May 26, 2026

Chicago Med showrunner Allen MacDonald is teasing bigger conflict, more romance complications and heightened drama heading into Season 12. In an exclusive interview with Pa...

REEL MOVES

Quality Meats expands leadership team

By Reel Chicago May 26, 2026

Quality Meats is continuing its rapid rise with a series of senior leadership moves following one of the agency’s biggest years yet. The independent creative shop has hire...

CHICAGO MADE

The Chi returns for its final season with a dark premiere

By Reel Chicago May 22, 2026

The Chi is back for its eighth and final season, and if the premiere is any indication, creator Lena Waithe is taking the acclaimed Chicago drama into its bleakest and most vol...

SPORTS

Miller Lite is awarding MVP fans a one-of-a-kind matchball

By Reel Chicago May 22, 2026

Miller Lite is going all in on summer. As soccer fever ramps up across the U.S. and America’s 250th birthday celebrations begin rolling into peak season, the Molson Coors bra...

AICP/MIDWEST

AICP Midwest sets date for Meet.Drink.Talk

By Reel Chicago May 22, 2026

Chicago’s advertising and production community will gather once again later this month as AICP Midwest brings back its long-running Meet.Drink.Talk networking event on Thursd...

ONE CHICAGO

One Chicago dominates ratings again – well, almost

By Reel Chicago May 22, 2026

NBC’s Chicago Fire and Chicago Med continue proving the staying power of Dick Wolf’s Chicago franchise, both landing inside the Top 10 most-watched non-sports programs of t...

Reel Ad of the Week

Emplify Health amplifies empathy in animated campaign

By Reel Chicago May 21, 2026

Healthcare advertising tends to look and sound exactly the same. Warm piano music. Slow-motion walking shots. Somebody staring thoughtfully out of a hospital window. Cramer-Kra...

REEL BUSINESS

Last Call, Chicago – Schlitz is going dark after 177 years

By Reel Chicago May 20, 2026

For generations of Chicago bar-goers, a cold Schlitz wasn’t just a beer order. It was part of the atmosphere. The glowing Schlitz signs hanging in old tavern windows. The fad...

SPORTS

NFL Owners briefed on Bears’ stadium plans

By Jason La Canfora May 19, 2026

As the NFL’s owners meet in Florida this week to discuss primarily matters related to the business of their sport, the Bears will brief them on their efforts to build a new...

PRODUCTION CENTRAL

AICP Midwest x IPA spotlight new tax credit opportunities

By Reel Chicago May 19, 2026

Chicago’s production community is getting a major financial pitch later this month and the numbers are hard to ignore. AICP Midwest and the Illinois Production Alliance (IPA)...

CREATIVE

Parkview Health wants to break healthcare advertising’s sameness problem

By Reel Chicago May 19, 2026

Healthcare advertising has a formula problem. Soft piano music. Slow-motion hugs. Generic promises about compassion. Smiling doctors walking through sunlit hallways like they�...

CELEBRITY

Bob Odenkirk recalls near-fatal heart attack

By BANG Showbiz May 17, 2026

Berwyn's Bob Odenkirk is opening up in chilling detail about the terrifying moments surrounding the near-fatal heart attack he suffered while filming Better Call Saul in 2021. ...

FILM

As Cannes slows, Chicago’s Watermelon Pictures is building a different future for indie film

By Reel Chicago May 17, 2026

Inside the halls of the Cannes Film Festival this year, there’s one uncomfortable reality almost everyone seems to agree on: Business is slow. According to THR, the gia...

AWARDS

Chicago has big night at 2026 Clio Awards

By Reel Chicago May 15, 2026

BBDO Chicago helped put Chicago squarely in the global creative spotlight Thursday night at the 2026 Clio Awards, taking home two Grand Clios for its emotionally powerful “Th...

AWARDS

Contender’s Robert Clifton Jr. named CAF’s Creative of the Year

By Reel Chicago May 15, 2026

Contender co-founder and chief creative officer Robert Clifton Jr. has been named the inaugural recipient of the Chicago Advertising Federation’s (CAF) newly created Creative...

SPORTS

McDonald’s wins naming rights to Chicago Fire FC’s new stadium

By Reel Chicago May 15, 2026

In other Chicago Fire FC news, the football club has landed one of the biggest branding partnerships in its history. McDonald's and Chicago Fire FC officially announced a landm...

CHICAGO MADE

Apple TV+ reveals first look, premiere date for Dark Matter S2

By Reel Chicago May 15, 2026

Apple TV+ has officially unveiled a first look at Season 2 of Dark Matter, the mind-bending Chicago-set sci-fi thriller based on the bestselling novel by Blake Crouch. The a...

CREATIVE

Jeep, Marvel team with Highdive for Captain America-themeed America250

By Reel Chicago May 14, 2026

Jeep is teaming up with Marvel and Highdive for a massive new America250 campaign built around two American icons born in 1941: the Jeep Wrangler and Captain America. Create...