We’ve all got our favorite movies right? But am I strange for having favorite TV commercials? In a parallel universe I could be one of those creative ad agency people, or as the late comedian, Bill Hicks, would say, I’d be one of “Satan’s little helpers.” But I wonder, do our favorite TV commercials say anything about the people we are, and if so I wonder what my list of ads say about me?
Easily my favorite TV ad of all time is this VW Cabrio ad from 2000 directed by Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris which introduced me, and many others, to the music of the late Nick Drake. I love this commercial because it reminds me of drives that I’ve had that are just like that.
Apple’s much awarded 1997 ‘Think different‘ ad by Jennifer Golub of Chiat Day is just great. Richard Dreyfuss does the voice over which starts “Here’s to the Crazy Ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently.” To this day I still have a ‘Think different’ poster on my office wall and the poem pinned to my cork board.
Points of view is an ad for The Guardian newspaper (UK) that ran back in 1986. I love the simplicity of this ad. A skinhead running toward a man in a suit holding a briefcase leads the viewer to make assumptions, and right there is where I connect with it; people making assumptions. Great ad. (took me ages to find it too!)
I wrote about this 2005 VW Golf GTI commercial before. The work of Jeremy Craigen and Steve Jones of DDB London, the ad shows the late Gene Kelly apparently breakdancing to a club-mix of Singin’ in the Rain. It took months of negotiations with the Gene Kelly’s wife to get the idea off the ground, but to my mind it works spectacularly. Why do I like this ad so much? Because it’s just sheer digital wizardry at its best if you ask me.
Another ad from 2005 was Sony’s ‘Color: Like no other’ commercial by Nicolai Fuglsig for the Fallon ad agency in London. The mixture of the beautiful music by José González and a quarter of a million bouncy balls rushing chaotically down the steep streets of San-Francisco in slow motion was simply a moment of pure televisual art. It’s also well worth watching a short feature on the making of the ad.
Ad agency, 180 Amsterdam, came up with the idea that ‘Impossible is nothing.’ British soccer star, David Beckham, tells history in this great ad. I think I liked the idea of achievement over adversity in this ad. “You will go through tough times,” Says Beckham. “It’s about coming through that.”
Advertising whisky seems like it might be a bit of a boring task, but Andy Fackrell and Richard Bullock of 180 Amsterdam created a truly engaging ad for Glenfiddich in which the message is that ‘Every year counts.’ I like that idea, that every year counts, that all those moments amount to something bigger.
And Finally, from this year, come Vodafone’s ‘Decisive Moments’ by BBH London. Featuring F1 race driver Lewis Hamilton the voice over tells us that life is full of chances with the end message being ‘Make the most of now.’ I couldn’t agree more.
So, when I look at these ads all put together like this I wonder if this reveals anything about me? I’ve only just noticed there are no funny ads in the list at all, and none were even considered. But then I’m not really one for comedy so perhaps that means nothing, I mean sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, right? But then if you’re in advertising that would probably depend on the brand of cigar I suppose.
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Making of Apple’s ‘Think different’ ad
Making of Sony’s ‘Like no other’ ad
Making of Adidas’s ‘Impossible is nothing’ ads
A man called Adi Dassler
What do your movies say about you?
Great endings
Wrote the following comment on Jun 25, 2008 at 2:15 pm
The one that sticks in my mind for sheer simplicity was the advert where the man is walking along a corridor in a deserted building and he hears a phone ringing somewhere. he finally tracks it down to an empty, dusty office and answers it. it was a wrong number and as he exits the room the sign on the door says “carlsberg complaints office”
sheer genius
Wrote the following comment on Jun 25, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Folk music moves you. ; )
All these ads are “emotional words” ads. They tug at your heart strings.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 25, 2008 at 3:39 pm
perhaps it reveals the fact that you watch a lot of tv. ;-)
Wrote the following comment on Jun 25, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Oh this stuff is right up my street, and yes, I think your choices here do actually reveal something about you. Mostly they all share a theme of being unafraid and seizing the moment and just from the little I know of your from reading your blog, I think I can see how you would identify with those themes.
I liked the David Beckham one the best, but probably for different reasons to you ;-)
Wrote the following comment on Jun 25, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Not sure what these ads tell us about you. What they got me thinking about is music. All the good ads have great music. I wonder how the makers choose the music, I mean there are just so many tunes to pick from?
The music makes many an ad including some of my favourites.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 25, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Sure there’s the music theme.. you certainly like your moving moments.
Aside from that, it would appear that you like commercials that are more surreal- a breakaway from the ordinary. I think you may like the idea that things dont always have to fit into the standard quo; there are other options and other solutions to problems- and in the end, anything can happen and anyone can make it happen. just a thought.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 26, 2008 at 12:20 am
These were great – I enjoyed every single one of them.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 26, 2008 at 5:00 am
So here’s my question. In the morning to you wake up and put on a pair of Adidas sneakers and run to the news stand to buy a Guardian newspaper before getting home and jumping into a VW to drive to work where you’ll sit in front of an Apple computer breaking only for the occasional call on your vodafone to arrange meeting with friends later in a pub for a quick dram of Glenfiddich?
Wrote the following comment on Jun 26, 2008 at 5:51 am
ha!
nicely done doug.