Review of Diesel “The Houseguests” Spring 2025 Ad Campaign by Creative Director Glenn Martens, Art Director Christopher Simmonds, and Photographer Frank Lebon
Big Diesel is watching you…
The brand’s latest campaign channels iconic social reality shows like Big Brother and Too Hot to Handle, reveling in the stylish chaos that unfolds as a group of deliriously expressive individuals attempt to cohabitate. Titled “The Houseguests,” the campaign sees the brand’s creative director Glenn Martens reunite with art director Christopher Simmonds and photographer Frank Lebon.
The concept was initially inspired by an archival Diesel campaign from Spring 1994, which depicts a multigenerational cast of disparate characters in a living room, shot from a bird’s eye view. Extending this narrative of eclectic individuals occupying an intimate domestic space where their every move is observed and recorded, the energetic group compositions explode with narrative detail as the story of the house’s zany inhabitants unfolds. From group waxing sessions to nyotaimori pizza parties to crashing a car through the living room wall, nothing seems off-limits for this community of Diesel-clad bon vivants.
The accompanying short film amps up the energy and deepens the details, pushing the narrative of liberated communal living to decadent and ecstatically surreal heights.
Diesel has an incredibly strong sense of brand identity based in community, freedom of personal expression, and contemporary riffs on nostalgic nods to its Y2K era – and each of Martens’ campaigns excellently offers another strong evolution of this vision. With his eye for detail and humor in his images, Simmonds is the perfect collaborator, and the team continues to do excellent work. There’s never a dull moment in a Diesel campaign, and this latest chapter in particular fully captures the joy of watching it all unfold.
Diesel Creative Director | Glenn Martens
Art Director | Christopher Simmonds
Photographer | Frank Lebon