Mother

Mother, London

Most of the time when I see nudity in an ad, it's done so distastefully, i.e. bottled water ad with Jennifer Aniston posing topless; nothing was revealed, but still. It's bottled water, so really? Anyway, here I feel like this is a celebration of the inner athele, and humans' natural ability. I was shocked at first because people being naked for Powerade is no different than Jennifer Aniston being naked for bottled water, but I don't know, I guess this grew on me. The term "Innergear" tied it all together and made it about more than just being nude.

Droga5

Droga5, New York

This spot for Rhapsody was a little disappointing compared to Droga's other work. Using celebrities here was relevant, but I feel like they didn't to anything with it; Jay-Z got a nice check for making a "music video". When I saw this, I immediately compared it to Jay-Z's commercial for HP Personal:

There was more interaction and it felt more personal. More than Jay-Z's image was borrowed, making this commercial feel more genuine. I did, however, like Droga's work for Guitar Hero (the bike), and their Tap Project, the Rhapsody spot just didn't meet the bar set by their other work.

Taxi

Taxi, Toronto

The cool thing about this billboard is that it went through phases; as time went on, the billboard was essentially pushed over to look like the block of "cheese" was getting smaller and smaller because it was being grated. It's refreshing to see the medium of billboards used in a creative way. I can just imagine driving by this billboard many time expecting it to be the same, then being pleasantly surprised by the clever use of a billboard. Once again, it's nice to see agencies advertise "boring" products in a creative way.

Cramer-Krasselt

Cramer-Krasselt, Milwaukee

Yet another product that seems boring to advertise. Here, Cramer-Krasselt took kitchen supplies and made them fun yet informative. The use of arrows to label the points of interest in the product seems like an overused idea, but I feel like here it was necessary; Pyrex wanted to showcase why their new products are more useful and revolutionary, so with a print ad, there aren't too, too many ways to get this done. Sure Cramer could have been more creative on that front, but I think that the overall feel of the ad made up for it.

Doner

Doner, Detroit

The most obvious thing that one can like about this commercial is the artistry involved in creating it; the brown color pallet didn't come across as dull, and the animation is beautiful. What struck me about this spot is that it reminded me of Coke's "Happiness Factory". I felt like Coke's was more effective because the message was achieved without any words. However, the use of dialogue here was done tastefully, and was able to work in conjunction with the animation and not get overpowered or become overpowering.

Richards Group

Richards Group, Dallas

I bet all the girls that have seen this have raised the bar on how they would like to be proposed to. I sort of thought it too, but it wasn't this man's creative proposal that caught my eye, it was the tag line at the end: "The exclusive Celebration Diamond, Zales' most brilliant diamond ever." I remembered the DeBeers campaign that launched the diamond, a worthless rock, into the image it holds today. It's amazing how it went from nothing to becoming a status symbol, to have different statuses within it's own high rank; "Celebration Diamond." What does that even mean? This just made me think that sometimes, the significance of a proposal can be overshadowed by what's essentially a rock; a proposal should still mean as much if the guy gave you a ring made out of a paperclip.

Bartle Bogle Hegarty

BBH, New York

There are many great things about this spot. First of all, it broke the formula for lotion commercials; there weren't shots of some woman caressing her shoulder while a voice over explained how awesome this moisturizing lotion is. On top of that, this spot uses nudity in an acceptable, and artistic way. They used nudity to showcase the beauty of the human body, reminiscent of the Dove campaign for beauty. The use of motion in in this spot was a nice artistic element as well. Also, the many different skin tones combined with the synchronized movement of the "dancers" seemed to create an undertone of the positivity of the coexistence of many different types of people in the world, a message that isn't normally associated with lotions.

Weiden + Kennedy

Weiden + Kennedy, Portland

You can't think of Weiden + Kennedy without thinking of Nike. The amazing thing about all the work done for Nike is that all of their spots are inspirational, they strike a chord with athletes as well as non-athletes. Here, there is a wide array of sports being represented, yet the simple message that it takes many tries to achieve perfection, or get up when you fall, can apply to everyone in any field. Weiden has taken the Nike brand and turned it into a social force, as evidenced by this spot.

Dentsu

Dentsu, Tokyo

Before I started looking at Dentsu's work, I assumed that it would be risky things that probably wouldn't run in the States; I assumed this because we see outrageous products, TV shows, etc. from Japanese culture that we don't normally see here. However, once I delved into their site and other sources, I saw that their work wasn't how I expected at all. Take this print ad for Yamaha for instance. It's clean, simple, and promotes music education, something that every society can encourage, especially in Japan with their culture centered around rigorous education.

Kirshenbaum Bond

Kirshenbaum Bond, New York

"Fuel to be fabulous...because women need a different kind of energy." This line wouldn't be a problem to me if it wasn't presented in this context. Women need a "different kind of energy" to shop till they drop, and to party it up at a club all night. Hm. Nice. In this appeal to TAB's female market, it just seemed like they ended up promoting materialism instead; empowering women is one thing, but empowering them to, in a way, neglect work in favor of things that women would be better at, such as dancing all night, is another.

Cliff Freeman & Partners

Cliff Freeman & Partners, New York

When you go for the "shock factor" in ads, there will be people who will find it effective and others who will hate it. Here, I would think that many would fall on the "hate it" side. The way they invoked a sense of shock in the viewers came across as the type of shock that would appall mothers and make their 15 year old sons laugh. I just feel that four lines of different sex positions was overkill to convey the message of AIDS awareness. It seems like the team responsible for this print ad was trying to stray from the typical AIDS ad (cute picture of a sad African child staring into your soul to make you donate money), but missed the mark.

VitroRobertson

VitroRobertson, San Diego

VitroRobertson had some pretty good work to showcase on their site, but honestly, nothing too impressive. However, their campaign for Taylor guitars seemed notable. This particular ad struck me as interesting because the first thing that came to mind when I saw it was Lydia Pinkham's Vegetable Compound; they both played off the idea of their product reaching monumental potentials/ proportions. Though this ad resembles the iconic Pinkham ad, I feel like since it is a new millenium and all, VitroRobertson could have gone with another more revolutionary idea.

Crispin Porter + Bogusky

Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Miami/Boulder

Whenever I see a Coke Zero spot, I feel like they're the socially awkward younger brother of Coke, but not really in a bad way. Weiden + Kennedy produces wonderful, more sophisticated work for Coke while living up to their reputation, Crispin churns out more risky, funny, eccentric things for this branch of Coke. It really is risky to stray from the usual message of joy and happiness, but this new approach is still effective because the "Impossible made Possible" campaign livens up the "classic" Coke look, and appeals to a younger crowd. This being said, it looks like Pepsi has some competition for the "new generation."

McKinney

McKinney, Raleigh

I remember seeing this spot run over and over (and over) again during the winter Olympics. I like that it's a little quirky, but compared to Nationwide work done by TM Advertising, this kind of quirky just seems odd. I guess I may be used to their past stuff, but with this new stuff, the theme employed seems overused: "former star summoned back to heed his calling." McKinney does great work for Nike Gamechangers and Gold's Gym, so the Nationwide Spokesperson spots seem like a pimple in the work. Also, there are a series of spots that spawned from this "Greatest spokesperson in the world" campaign, but this first one didn't have the wow factor that would make consumers look into it further. The "Hang in there, Jack," campaign for Jack in the Box is an example of a successful commercial/ drama/ soap opera fusion, this, however, is not.

Euro RSCG

BETC Euro RSCG, Paris

This ad translates, "Come as you are."

Many things come to mind while looking at this ad, but the main thing is, what is going on? The random couple making out in the background is prime example of unnecessary sexuality in advertisements; products should be able to be advertised without the assistance of sexual material. This ad also falls short of Euro RSCG's other work. Their print ads for Sony and Lacoste are able to capture the essence of the products without resorting to desperate measures. I guess some bad ones just slip through every now and then.

Arnold Worldwide

(It took 100 years for this to be considered a family photo.)

(If photos don't lie, then why was this one titles "friends"?)

Arnold Worldwide, New York

Not until I ran across these ads on Arnold's site did I realize that I haven't seen any ads directly addressing the GLBT community. This shocked me because I feel like we've come to a point in time when ads like this would be a little more commonplace. I also like the Progressive played off that name of their company, a move that usually results in cheesy puns, and chose to address an audience/ market that often appears to go unnoticed. I also liked that Arnold took the time to find authentic vintage photos of homosexual couples, highlighting the struggles that this community has endured through the ages.

Team One Advertising

Team One Advertising, New York

I think that this was a unique way to convey a factual message. This was a much more interesting method than having the car driving down a super windy road while a voiceover explains to you that the car has almost no vibrations. Though this commercial was more engaging for the viewer, it seemed like print ads for Lexus were not. The fill in the blank method that they employ to compare Lexus to other luxury car models seems like it would be effective if there was less type; it looks like a news article, so unless this ran in a magazine (which I think and hope it did), people probably overlooked it.

Examples of the Lexus print ads can be found here --> Click.

Kaplan Thaler Group

Kaplan Thaler Group, New York

I'm glad they chose not to advertise condoms in ways we've all seen before: random "attractive" females making suggestive faces at "attractive males", or the random shots of a couple that look like an intimate scene from a PG-13 movie. Here, though the talking/ singing animals were kind of cheesy, I felt like the message that both the man and the woman need to be responsible, was a nice, different approach. Kaplan Thaler Group was still able to maintain a "cool" vibe (club scene and whatnot) while still asserting a reminder for responsibility; better to show people that this alternative is cool, than to make commercials spouting facts of the staggering rates of teen pregnancy.

Fallon Worldwide

Fallon, London

Though lots of people find this spot humorous, I feel that it comes across as creepy. I didn't initially see the relation to Cadbury, or chocolates to that matter, but I guess it was a neat way to portray the message that Cadbury chocolates can turn any dreaded situation (school picture day) into something fun; the musical balloon bit was entertaining I must admit, but still, creepy commercial with a stretched link to chocolates. However, this ad does seem to go along with Fallon's theme of visually stimulating work such as their campaign for Sony Bravia.

Leo Burnett

Leo Burnett, Chicago

In case you can't see the tiny print, it says, "Chicago," and "367 McCafe locations." I like that this ad was able to state a simple, factual bit of information in an interesting way. I bet it was well received among the local crowd, but as a non-Chicago resident, I can say that I was amused as well. Turning something as simple as a cup of coffee into a small geography lesson for the viewer, in a way, made me feel smart for getting the ad. Even if you didn't get it right away, the use of photography here was brilliant.

Leo Burnett's other work for McDonald's shouldn't be overlooked either. The creation of a sundial on a billboard was rather crafty of them (refer to the blog post entitled "Art + Advertising").

Saatchi & Saatchi

Saatchi & Saatchi, London

The thing that makes this "ad" effective is that T-Mobile's new motto/ slogan isn't explicitly stated; "Life's for Sharing" was implied based on people's reactions to this live event. People were shooting video on the phones, taking pictures, sending messages, etc. to all of their friends, sharing this event with them. The shock value associated with this spot allowed T-Mobile to gain thousands, if not millions of dollars worth of free press coverage, YouTube hits, etc.

Random site note, but this spot reminded me of this Improv Everywhere stunt. Enjoy!

Publicis

Publicis Conseil, Paris

It's interesting to see the scope of a social networking site's power; Facebook has become so popular that an ad can be centered around it, not ever mention the name "Facebook," yet everyone will still get it. On the part of Publicis and Wonderbra, I think this ad was humorous, and advertised bras in a non- Victoria's Secret way, typical of Wonderbra's other work. It's nice to see that you don't need unrealistically sized models flaunting themselves to be able to sell underwear.

R/GA

Talk about a store from the future. R/GA seems to have gone above and beyond with this one; this unique shopping experience is not only revolutionary from a technological perspective, but from the consumer's perspective as well. It seems to be empowering to have that much control; there aren't many sales people pushing you to get something, and everything you pick is exactly what you want, so you can leave satisfied. I also like that the programs and features that are placed in that store allow consumers to get creative by "bejewling" their phones and whatnot.

P.S. I couldn't find a smaller sized video to embed, so here's a link to the R/GA site. --> Click.

T.A.G. SF

T.A.G., San Francisco

Good old creative work from T.A.G. The depiction of an alternate dimension or universe is is a creative idea in itself, but here it's executed beautifully. Coincidentally, like Apple's iPod commercials, this spot was able to convey a feeling of independence, or an escape through music. The only difference was that this idea was portrayed more literally. Also, this concept of eccentric, alternate universes reminds me of Le Sens Propre, a spot for Adobe CS4 done by Goodby.

Campbell Mithun

Campbell Mithun, Minneapolis

Soybeans is another product that makes me think, "Hm, how do we advertise for this?" The reason I think this print ad is successful is that I like the sequence that this ad makes a viewer follow: confusion (cat with a gun?), laughter (yeah, it's a cat with a gun, so it's funny), then you read the tag line, and it all comes together. They didn't make a poster of a diagram of a soybean then listed all of the health benefits; this ad was concise, eye-catching and humorous, and rewarding.

Mullen

Mullen, Boston

If you're not sure what you're watching, this is an Ask.com ad popping up on in the middle of an NCIS episode. Though it won an award for "Best Use of TV," I have opposite opinions about this. Even though some call it creative, I felt like it was intrusive; it's like the tiny ads that pop up on YouTube videos, except this time you can't close them. I do applaud them for finding a way around the trouble that DVRs cause for advertising, but in the end I feel like more consumers will be angry that their show got mildly interrupted, so negative views toward Ask.com might be an unintended result of this "creative" solution to an advertising problem.

Deutsch

Deutsch, LA

This is actually the first VW spot I've seen from Deutsch. I thought it was interesting how Deustch, being Volkswagen's new agency coupled with the fact that it's a new decade, decided to feature a spot that discussed the past. Even though they focused on VW's "history", this ad didn't align with other classic ones; it didn't focus on aspects of the car that were unique, such as safety features, it's roundness, etc. I guess the discussion of a game that is only applicable to Volkswagens would keep this spot in line with the tradition of VW trying to stand out from generic American cars though. Also, the new touch added by renaming the classic game from "Slugbug" to "PunchDub" was clever.

Hill Holliday

Hill Holliday, Boston

I would think that advertising for a cemetery would be difficult; how sappy/ sad do you want to make the ad? How far can you take your humor? I think that this series of print ads was effective. It's use of a "shock factor" did it's job; a lot of people want to escape the idea that they're going to die, but this ad reminds you of that fact, freaks you out, then makes you think, "Well, it has a point." When using shock to grab the attention of the audience, I feel like you have to be careful about how closely you approach the line without going to far; it seems like these print ads are at the right distance.

Carmichael Lynch

Carmichael Lynch, Minneapolis

The most striking thing about this commercial is that it was a little different from the more recent Coke spots we've seen and are used to. Coke's message of happiness is still portrayed to the audience, but in a non-traditional, non-Coke way; the use of a negative moment (the hitchhiker missing all the cars that passed) to highlight the joys of Coke was odd. Also, the use of sexuality at the end to signal that "Life is good" wasn't like the Coke we're used to, and lowered Coke to a level almost near beer ads, which made this spot a little disappointing.

Lowe

Lowe, Buenos Aires

Though Axe commercials are typically humorous, they get kind of old; we get it, women will throw themselves at you if you wear Axe. We all know this won't actually happen for most users, but believe it or not, someone actually sued Axe because he failed to land a girlfriend after faithfully using Axe products for seven years. Oh, the funny things you come across on the internet.

Anyway, this commercial for Axe isn't easily sidestepped like the product's other spots because it translates the idea of "Axe = chick magnet" in a more meaningful, way; the woman in this spot had control over the situation, she wasn't just mindlessly hurling her body at some guy. Another thing about this spot is that though it shared some characteristics with other Latin American ads, or foreign ads in general that I've seen, this one seemed as if the story line was tame enough to be run in America (in contrast to the Sprite campaign from Ogilvy Argentina). In short, it was interesting to see an Axe spot that didn't follow the typical "Axe formula," and it's a shame this spot wasn't shown in the U.S.

DraftFCB

DraftFCB, Hamburg

It's interesting to see how commercials for hair products follow the same formula even across continents. On DraftFCB's website, they point out the fact that many women complain of thin hair, yet do nothing about it. This campaign was meant to encourage women to use volumizing products, but I feel like this spot, and the other one similar to this, fell short of it's goal because of how generic it is. If they wanted the consumers to do something different, they shouldn't have churned out a commercial that's the same as all the other ones that are already out there.

TM Advertising

TM Advertising, Dallas

The thing that makes this campaign noteworthy is the fact that it can be placed in any city, making it very useful and valuable to Superpages.com.

However, compared to TM's other "Guerilla" and "Outdoor" ads, this one seems a bit bland; people can read the billboard and say, "Cool," then move on with their day. Contrastingly, TM is responsible for the much talked about Nationwide outdoor installment, the opposite of bland:

Not all of their outdoor ads are this eye-catching, but the copy in other ads were more successful in getting the consumer to think and agree with the statement being made. Their outdoor placement for Group Health was strategically placed in parking spots that were undesirable because of their distance from the desired building, congratulating people for their healthy choice to walk farther, giving the receiver of the ad a reward and some food for thought; maybe they'll consider parking far away from now on? Maybe they will update their insurance because a giant paint bucket can obliterate their car? Who knows?

The Martin Agency

The Martin Agency, New York

In this spot, fittingly entitled "Extended Family" Coke and Walmart have joined forces to to spread "joy". The biggest problem with this dual advertisement is that this ad seems to be more effective for Coke; the overwhelming Coke imagery makes the viewer forget that it's a Walmart ad. Also, the word "joy" is more associated with Coke's brand image; this commercial kind of says, "It's the holidays, so buy some Coke to spread some joy. And oh, by the way, you can get it at Walmart if you feel like it." It just felt like Walmart either tried to borrow some interest from Coke to lift it's own image, but ended up getting overshadowed by the more loved brand.

Grey

Grey, New York

This is a prime example of milking a concept until it's dry, and Grey, the E*Trade babies have been milked to death. This was used as the 2010 Super Bowl spot, which is sad because they spent so much money on a commercial they could have aired any other day alongside the hundreds (seemingly) of other E*Trade babies.

The interesting thing about this particular commercial is the scandal involved. Lindsay Lohan decided to sue because of the reference to the "milkaholic" baby named Lindsay in this spot. I'm assuming that most people didn't make that connection until the ruined child star filed the suit, and now that they see the relation, they probably find it humorous; It's kind of sad when you automatically assume a ____-aholic mentioned is a subtle reference to yourself. If anything, the suit gave this spot a little publicity, separating it from the other talking babies we automatically disregard when we see them on TV.

McCann Erickson

McCann Erickson, New York

Think of all the other commercials you know with people wearing giant food costumes. Now think of all the commercials with cute candid moments of little children. These things seem a little over done on their own, but here, they're together. Granted the commercial is cute and many probably loved it, I just felt like the concept of defining what love is to promote products during Valentine's season wasn't exactly thinking outside the box.