Ballet Classes

Not everything needs a big budget – a good idea will go a long way. 

Audi Q5

Great song for a great film.

Nivea

Nice example of taking a board campaign a step further by making it tangible and encouraging engagement. I also like the contrast in the idea; the fun of popping bubble wrap compared to the function of the product. Click to enlarge.

Sony Bravia

Sony Bravia has made some of my all time favorite ads. They are prime example of the type of advertising that inspired me to make this blog. The best known examples are probably the Paint Ad and Bouncy Balls where gorgeous execution conveys one simple message: Color like no other.

This ad had snuck by most of us. It’s a version made primarily for Egypt and shows the durability and range of the idea. 

And just to show that the extravagance of the idea isn’t limited to the visuals, here is a different direction from the same concept: Sound like no other. 

Pedigree

Maybe you should get a dog? This is the question Pedigree wants you to ask yourself – even if you don’t have a rhinoceros or a wild boar already. 

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Big Love

HBO series Big Love has just begun its third season. With a polygamist Mormon family as the focal point, it goes without saying that secrets are a central part of the plot. This little piece of advertising addresses this theme in a great way – just plug your headphones into the head of the people on the audio billboard and hear their secrets. Click to enlarge.

As a viral strategy, could they have done a spoof together with post secret? 

Barclaycard

I now understand that this is the only way to leave work. If this commercial doesn’t make you smile you might be mentally ill.



And of course the spoof – this time from Specsavers.

Cadbury Trucks

The latest addition of A Glass and a Half Full Production had passed me by, but apparently came out between the famous Gorilla and the newer Eyebrow Dance commercials. Like the other films it has a feel-good vibe to it and very little to do with the category. Who knew chocolate could be this fun?

IKEA 3D

Brands are always looking to engage and excite their consumers. The vast majority fail. IKEA however has a great history of turning customers into fans – the 3D cover is a great example of this idea put into action.

Carlsberg and Mentos

A funny as hell spoof from Carlsberg yelling “Enough with the Mentos eruption, Coke geyser youtube crap. We have had it – OK?”

Fretex

One of the absolute best campaign websites in a long time - plain and simple. Click here for the full experience.

Samsung Omnia

Great spoof with lots of viral potential – over two and a half million views prove it. Unboxing has become the icon of the experience economy – I love the way this little film pokes fun at the trend.

Cadbury Eyebrow Dance

Fallon creates another quirky and sweet commercial for Cadbury. Like the Gorilla playing drums this add also feels more like entertainment than a commercial – not stealing you attention but deserving it.

FIFA Street 3

Yet another well orchestrated viral campaign from EA Games. It’s clearly manipulated but still ignites something in people – at least judging from the many comments on youtube going “This is fake!” The strongest element in the film is probably the handheld, user generated vibe it gives, borrowing credibility from both the Nike - Freestyle Basketball film and underground urban sport Parkour 

CareerBuilder

How do you know when to quit your job? The average working day might be slightly less dreadful than this ad shows but it does to a nice job of putting the idea of something better in your head – even in these times.


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Fly

Simplicity wins. Again.

Carlsberg

Fact: Penguins are funny. Penguins playing ping-pong are hysterical.

Uniforms for the Dedicated

Who knew ping-pong had gone underground? It maybe unfair to compare viral stuff to regular commercials but this Swedish fashion brand has made a video well worth spending 1:40 minutes to watch. To get the full experience though – you’ll have to see it on their website.

LEGO

Simplicity gives room for imagination – imagination is what keeps LEGO from going out of style. These print ads are marvelous because they illustrate exactly what role LEGO has in our lives.

Don't Disturb the Working

So much of the communication you see for NGOs is based on the assumption that everyone feels inherently bad for less fortunate people. Dramatizing solely on the premise of a guilty conscience only contributes to people filtering out and avoiding the message. That’s what makes ads like this one so relevant. Rather than using a guilt trip it illustrates the real challenge; the problem isn’t related to blindness, its related to ignorance.

A world without gorillas

The Cadbury Gorilla ad was forwarded, embedded and blogged about all over the web. An untold number of spoofs popped up giving the original commercial even more momentum.

This one is new to me though. It works on the premise that Cadbury has established the gorilla as a delightful character in our minds already. So what happens when he disappears?

Take it to the next level

This is just great storytelling. Using the first person perspective really pulls you in to the story. I guess being a spots star isn’t glorious all the time but it seems to have its moments. This is perfectly in line with Nikes promise to its customers; everyone can be an athlete.

Dove Evolution

Dove has successfully used the insight that real people don’t identify with ideal the beauty industry promotes through its “Real Beauty” campaign. I like brands that have the courage to talk about life’s little imperfections and Dove has certainly found a clear position. The irony is of course that Dove is owned by Unilever. Unilever also own Axe who’s communication has a slightly different tone of voice.



The Dove film had great viral potential and was distributed all over the web. An amusing spoof emerged perhaps addressing that Doves intentions are not as noble as they might seem.

Virgin Atlantic Upper Class

I read the brief and storyboard for this commercial as part of a training course. It was clear that this could potentially be very funny but I was so surprised of how great and relevant it actually turned out. No easy task either; the underdog Virgin now offers “upper class” seats. Rebelling against this was part of their initial positioning strategy against the likes of British Airways. Having to make the same offer themselves without losing credibility is difficult, but this piece of does a great job in achieving just that.

Walk in fridge

A part of me feels this is really dumb, but the other part is laughing his ass off.

Love for All

Beautiful and slightly controversial story told in less than a minute. The creative execution is fantastic, both visually and in regards to the soundtrack. I get the feeling some of the insight the commercial is based upon might be that wives or girlfriends are very influential when deciding what underwear a guy will buy.

Chucky 20 year anniversary

To promote a special edition DVD celebrating 20th anniversary of the movie, Fox sent a horde of tiny Chuckys onto the streets of New York. Not only did they look like him – they acted like him.

Kleenex + ATM

If the financial crisis has brutalized your bank account, at least you’ll have something to wipe your tears away when your withdrawal is denied.

Inner child

It is more difficult to create something inspiring in printed media than using film. This print however does a great job – the design is fabulous and the message works on several different levels.

Tiger Woods 09 - Walk on Water

The videogame Tiger Woods PGA Tour is one of EA games best sellers. The latest version had a glitch so that if you hit the ball into a pond, you could simply walk onto the water striking the ball again. Rumors of the glitch spread quickly on the web - spoofs mocking the game popped up everywhere. Rather than denying or stonewalling the obvious mistake EA games released this response.

Innocent

Innocent is the kind of brand which through transparency invites target group participation. Spoofs like this are the best thing that can happen to a brand seeking the audiences’ engagement and is facilitated brilliantly by the honest tone of voice in their product and communication. This little film starts out kind of eerie but provides such great relief with lines like “one small step for fruitkind…”

Singing Dog

In my opinion one of last year’s absolutely best commercials. Hysterically funny and sweet, it strikes a chord with the audience when we see the dog burst into confident song inside the car. The tagline “Polo confidence” ties it all together for me.

Cadbury's Gorilla

Probably the most blogged about commercial in years, The Cadbury Gorilla still makes me smile. Not only a bold strategy – using a hairy gorilla to sell chocolate – but a creative solution so remarkable that invited the audience to engage in the brand making an untold number of spoofs.

I can do anything

Apple has stuck to its “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” concept for a while now, much to Mac users satisfaction. Nothing is better than being reassured that the fortune you spent on that new MacBook Pro actually did make you into a cooler person. What better way to communicate this than personifying the PC as a slightly evil dork using the inherent rivalry between Mac and PC users for everything its worth.

Square Peg, Round Hole

EA Sport have made some epic virals and spoofs. This is one of my absolute favorites because it plays into the way we see Tiger Woods; He’ just that good.




This behind the scenes clip is also cool. The crew gets at least as excited as Tiger when he makes the shot, just check out the guy hugging him in the end!

Clay Pigeons

I’m no soccer fan in any way shape of from but this - like they would say in Mad Men – swell.

Ninja Kittens

I guess Toyota had caught on; Cats are pretty ninja - the swinging lights distraction he pulls is hilarious. The product relevance isn’t obvious but I think the tagline" Corolla. Packed with a lil’ action" does a nice job.