July 2009
Client: Diageo PLC Brand: Tanqueray Agency: Wieden + Kennedy Description: This new Tanqueray gin spot from Wieden + Kennedy, Amsterdam, with the tagline "Resist simple," is beautifully executed and captures the fragrant...More
Client: Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority Brand: Las Vegas Tourism Agency: R&R Partners Description: In all the years Las Vegas has been running the "What happens here" campaign, I'd never thought to consider what might be happening in places other...More June 2009
Client: MasterCard Worldwide Brand: MasterCard Credit Card Agency: McCann Erickson Worldwide Description: Marlon Brando (in his Wild One incarnation) wearing pleated slacks? John Wayne clad in Capri pants as he swings up onto a horse in one of his...More
Client: Land O' Lakes, Inc. Brand: Land O' Lakes Butter Agency: Campbell Mithun Promotion Description: Is America ready for butter with olive oil in it? This spot for Land O'Lakes (via Campbell Mithun, Minneapolis) will help nudge the nation in that...More
Client: State Street Brand: State Street SPDR Agency: The Gate Worldwide Description: This State Street SPDR ETF spot feels much longer than 60 seconds. The lilting soundtrack and monochrome cinematography -- intended to appeal to...More
Client: Audi of America, Inc. Brand: Audi Cars Agency: Venables, Bell & Partners Description: Consumers are accustomed to (and skeptical of) automotive advertising that suggests they can save the planet by buying a particular brand of car. This...More
Client: Olympus America, Inc. Brand: Olympus Cameras & Accessories Agency: Mullen Description: Social media's probably a good way to market cameras, since the devices themselves provide the means to share images and, by extension, personal...More
Client: PureVia Brand: PureVia Agency: TracyLocke Description: Gabrielle Reece, a former pro beach volleyball player and model, appears undressed, except for some well-placed foliage, in print ads for PureVia, a...More
Client: ICI Paints Brand: Glidden Paints Agency: DDB Worldwide, Inc. Description: The bad news: Well, we know the bad news (about the economy, anyway). The good news: At least we get a free quart of paint. That's the stimulus...More
Client: Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America, Inc. Brand: Mitsubishi Electric Agency: Ames Scullin O'Haire Inc. Description: Steve McQueen's son Fred is the "Air Hunter" in Ames Scullin O'Haire's campaign for Mitsubishi Electric. He spends his time outdoors, traveling to...More
Client: GoDaddy.com Brand: GoDaddy.com Agency: GoDaddy.com Description: GoDaddy founder and CEO Bob Parsons plays the title role in "Genie." He wears a goofy turban and sits in a lawn chain. Anna Rawson, a comely LPGA...More
Client: The Procter & Gamble Co. Brand: Luvs Diapers Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide Description: What do people want from a diaper company? Diapers, most likely. Do people also want insights into the intricacies of childrearing? The answer to that...More
Client: Hotels.com Brand: Hotels.com Online Travel Site Agency: Young & Rubicam Description: Aardman's signature visual style has graced so many commercials through the years, the novelty has long worn off. The mere presence of characters...More
Client: Newell Rubbermaid, Inc. Brand: Sharpie Markers & Writing Instruments Agency: DraftFCB Description: Who doesn't love writing with a Sharpie? That smelly print is a tactile treat, and the functionality has been showcased in various ways through the...More
Client: AT&T Mobility Brand: AT&T Wireless Agency: BBDO New York Description: Hansel and Gretel find a new way to get home in this AT&T spot from BBDO. Here instead of being abandoned in the woods, they are shuttled off to...More
Client: Apple Computer, Inc. Brand: Apple iPhone Agency: TBWA Media Arts Lab Description: The introductions of new Apple products, particularly iPhone upgrades, are always swathed in such secrecy, it's fitting that the commercial for the...More
Client: Crown Imports Brand: Corona Agency: Cramer-Krasselt Description: The tropical lagoon in advertising for Corona beer is usually an Eden unto itself, far from the cares of the workaday world. Every now and then,...More
Client: EA/MTV Brand: Rock Band Agency: EA/MTV Description: This promo clip for the upcoming Beatles' Rock Band videogame seems fitting for the four lads from Liverpool who enjoyed a global celebrity the...More
Client: Farmers Group, Inc. Brand: Farmers Insurance Agency: The Richards Group, Inc. Description: This first Richards Group effort for Farmers Insurance makes a good case for the company's human touch. Set up as a "true story" about "being ready,"...More
Client: Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority Brand: Las Vegas Tourism Agency: R&R Partners Description: Gun-wielding chinchillas rise up against their owners in a bloody three-day battle that is forever commemorated with "ChinChilli Day." Haven't heard...More
Client: Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies Brand: Schlage Locks Agency: TracyLocke Description: In selling a highly useful new product, a demonstration is the obvious way to go. The catch is, consumers have seen so much of the genre that they're...More
Client: Burger King Holdings, Inc. Brand: Burger King Restaurants Agency: Crispin Porter + Bogusky Description: When it comes to ads spoofing home shopping networks, this BK spot's the King. The campaign pitches the Whopper Jr. on KVN, the King Value Network....More
Client: Dunkin' Brands, Inc. Brand: Spike TV/Dunkin Donuts Agency: Hill Holliday Description: Former college football coach and sportscaster Barry Switzer stars in a cross-promotional campaign for Spike TV (touting reality show Pros vs. Joes)...More
Client: Boost Mobile Brand: Boost Mobile Wireless Phone Service Agency: 180 LA Description: Sounds like a treat for lecherous viewers: a commercial starring racecar driver Danica Patrick that includes multiple closeups of miniskirted legs and...More May 2009
Client: GEICO Brand: Geico Insurance Agency: The Martin Agency, Inc. Description: Who doesn't love a stack of stalker cash with googly eyes on it? Since his debut, Geico's "Kash" has made his share of friends and foes, but as The...More
Client: Home Box Office Brand: HBO Cable Channel Agency: Digital Kitchen Description: For a show that's so original -- and so thoroughly sucked us in last season -- it's surprising to see HBO take such a well-traveled path to advertise...More
Client: Telephone And Data Systems, Inc. Brand: U.S. Cellular Agency: Publicis & Hal Riney Description: This U.S. Cellular commercial by Publicis & Hal Riney features the celebrated crayon sculptures of artist Diem Chau to emphasize the value of...More
Client: GMAC Financial Services Brand: Ally Bank Agency: Bartle Bogle Hegarty Ltd. Description: Dating back to the days of Brand X, advertising has always been adept at depicting bad guys. A campaign by BBH New York for Ally Bank -- the newly...More
Client: Kimberly-Clark Corp., Consumer Div. Brand: Huggies Disposable Diapers Agency: JWT New York Description: The best thing about this spot is that it is a spot for Huggies diapers and there is neither a single butt-waddling toddler nor diaper to be found....More
Client: The TJX Companies, Inc. Brand: Marshalls Stores Agency: GSD&M's Idea City Description: The recession is bringing out a lot of heretofore latent self-righteousness about the way people spend their money. We encounter a flurry of this in...More
Client: Pepsi-Cola Co. Brand: Pepsi-Cola Agency: BBDO Worldwide Description: A precocious penguin plays in the snow, as penguins are known to do. Then the bird heads to an ice-shack workshop, fixes up a jet-pack and blasts off...More
Client: Papa Gino's Holdings, Inc. Brand: D'Angelo Sandwich Shops Agency: Connelly Partners Description: When a commercial tells you that you "deserve" something, doesn't this put you on guard? It's certainly one of the elements that make political ads so...More
Client: McDonald's Corp. Brand: McDonald's Restaurants Agency: DDB Chicago, Inc. Description: Biscuit's Tim Godsall directed this fantasy-tinged McDonald's spot. A guy drops a single French fry into the deep, dark, cluttered recesses of his...More
Client: Sara Lee Food & Beverage Brand: Jimmy Dean Sausage Agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day Description: The latest heliocentric commercial for Jimmy Dean makes me feel a bit guilty. Its oddball humor (via TBWA\Chiat\Day, Playa del Rey, Calif.) gives 30...More
Client: McDonald's Corp. Brand: McDonald's Restaurants Agency: DDB Chicago, Inc. Description: An ice-cold, whip-cream-topped coffee drink usually does make everything feel better. But no matter how good McDonald's new McCafe coffee is, it is...More
Client: Diesel North America Brand: Diesel Apparel Agency: Fred & Farid Description: Common stars in a new commercial for Diesel's new Only the Brave men's L'Oreal fragrance. The spot, created by Fred & Farid in Paris, has...More
Client: Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A. Brand: Yamaha Motorcycles Agency: Marshall Advertising & Design Description: As the recession goes on (and on and on), brands will struggle to devise fresh ways of inviting us to economize without feeling like skinflints. Let...More April 2009
Client: Heineken USA, Inc. Brand: Heineken Beer Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Inc. Description: We've all been there. It's late. You're out on the town with a bunch of friends, and the spirit of the evening takes over. A new Heineken spot from...More
Client: Qwest Communications International, Inc. Brand: Qwest Telecommunications Agency: DraftFCB Description: A free service that backs up your computer files online? Sounds like a good idea. But lots of things are good ideas, and consumers don't necessarily...More
Client: True Value Co. Brand: True Value Hardware Stores Agency: MARC USA/Chicago Description: Do-it-yourselfers get some advice from the ?masters of all things hardwarian? in a new campaign from Marc for True Value. The ads attempt to cast...More
Client: ESPN, Inc. Brand: ESPN Cable Sports Network Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Inc. Description: Since the dawn of fantasy-baseball-league time, Peter Gammons has been something of a god for people who feel an urgent need to know about roster...More
Client: Denny's Corporation Brand: Denny's Restaurants Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, Inc. Description: A new Denny's campaign is waging war on fast food breakfast sandwiches made by the "machines," with new ads promising "the humans will win" by eating...More
Client: Wendy's International, Inc. Brand: Wendy's Restaurants Agency: Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners LLC Description: Change is good, we're told - often as a way of introducing a specific change that's better for the person inflicting it than for the rest of us. At a...More
Client: KFC Corp. Brand: KFC Restaurants Agency: DraftFCB Description: KFC wants you to "Unthink KFC." Yes, "Unthink." Well, unthink the fried chicken part and think about its new marinated grilled variety, offered free...More
Client: Britvic Brand: J20 Agency: Bartle Bogle Hegarty Description: Soundtracks from two very different video clips get mixed up. Hilarity ensues. That's the shtick in new commercials (via BBH, London) for Britvic's...More
Client: Britvic Brand: J20 Agency: Bartle Bogle Hegarty Description: Sound tracks from two very different video clips get mixed up. Hilarity ensures. That's the shtick in new commercials (via BBH, London) for...More
Client: Global Gillette Brand: Gillette Agency: BBDO New York Description: Gillette takes Derek Jeter, Tiger Woods and Roger Federer back to 1977 in this new ad promoting a 500 per day razor giveaway at Gillette.com/walk. The...More
Client: ConAgra Foods, Inc. Brand: Healthy Choice Frozen Entrees Agency: Nitro Description: A few commercials into Nitro's first work for Healthy Choice, a deadpan series of spots starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as a reluctant spokesperson, it...More
Client: Major League Baseball Properties Brand: Major League Baseball Agency: McCann Erickson North America Description: "You gotta have hope," explains the showstopping number in the vintage musical Damn Yankees. And hope is indeed baseball's animating spirit in spring,...More
Client: Dr Pepper/7Up, Inc. Brand: Dr Pepper Soft Drink Agency: Deutsch, Inc. Description: For the sake of future archaeologists, let's hope this Dr Pepper Cherry spot via Deutsch/LA isn't the only artifact of our civilization to remain...More
Client: Barton Beers Ltd. Brand: Corona Beer Agency: Cramer-Krasselt Description: Corona's long-running TV campaign has deftly positioned the beer as a kind of tropical vacation in a bottle. Amid a recession in which fewer of us can...More
Client: The Sherwin-Williams Co. Brand: Sherwin-Williams Retail Stores Agency: McKinney Description: Odd as it may seem, commercials often go awry because the client doesn't understand what it's selling. This spot for Sherwin-Williams (via McKinnney...More
Client: Blood Center of Central Texas Brand: Blood Center of Central Texas Agency: Door Number 3 Description: The usual motif of ads that ask us to give blood, donate to charity, devote time to a worthy cause, etc.: You're a good person, so you'll want to do...More
Client: Visa USA, Inc. Brand: Visa Check Card Agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day Description: This new Visa spot featuring people singing along to Rick James has an energy and humor we haven't yet seen in the new "More People Go with Visa"...More
Client: Eastman Kodak Co. Brand: Kodak Agency: Deutsch, Inc. Description: To familiar villains like Big Oil and Big Pharma we can now, thanks to this commercial, add another: Big Ink. Promoting Kodak printers "that only use...More March 2009
Client: Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. Brand: Liberty Mutual Insurance Agency: Hill Holliday Description: Liberty Mutual broke a new campaign Sunday touting The Responsibility Project (www.responsiblityproject.com), an online forum launched last year...More
Client: TaylorMade-adidas Golf Co. Brand: Adidas Golf Apparel & Footwear Agency: NYCA, Inc. Description: When men say they don't enjoy shopping, there's an unspoken exception to this supposed rule: They love buying gear associated with their favorite...More
Client: Idearc Media Brand: Verizon Yellow Pages Agency: TM Advertising Description: Trust is the lubricant that helps a sophisticated economy run smoothly. That's why a sudden decline in trust - doubting that people and institutions...More
Client: Arby's Restaurant Group, Inc. Brand: Arby's Roast Beef Restaurants Agency: Fletcher Martin Description: Artist Phil Hansen paints a version of the Mona Lisa in burger grease, which makes viewing this spot much like watching a car wreck: you are revolted...More
Client: Can Am Brand: Spyder Agency: Cramer-Krasselt Description: Yes, we're in a period of austerity. But people still want to indulge themselves in small or big ways, and they'll be receptive to ads that (in the...More
Client: Valspar Brand: VALSPAR PAINTS Agency: Euro RSCG Chicago Description: Here's a campaign that's much more intriguing than watching paint dry. Rather than show freshly painted houses (or rooms inside houses), Euro RSCG in...More
Client: Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism Brand: Massachusetts Tourism Agency: Connelly Partners Description: Connelly Partners took leftover footage from last year's Bay State tourism campaign, grafted on a swingin' Brian Setzer score and spliced in a bit of...More
Client: Kohler Co. Brand: Kohler Plumbing Fixtures Agency: GSD&M's Idea City Description: Many commercials are too boring. This one for Kohler sinks (via GSD&M Idea City) may be too interesting as it shows an attractive woman bursting...More
Client: Amtrak-National Railroad Passenger Corp. Brand: Amtrak Passenger Rail Service Agency: Arnold Worldwide Description: It's fun to watch kids experiencing the joys of childhood. It's less fun to watch them mimicking the frustrations of adulthood. So, while this spot...More
Client: ESPN, Inc. Brand: ESPN.com Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Inc. Description: I don't play fantasy baseball and rarely even watch a game, but I can appreciate a good commercial about how ESPN can help those who do. A new...More
Client: Federal Trade Commission Brand: Federal Trade Commission Agency: In-House Description: The Federal Trade Commission has had quite enough of FreeCreditReport.com's popular ad campaign and today launched a response that not only sharply...More
Client: AFLAC, Inc. Brand: AFLAC Insurance Agency: The Kaplan Thaler Group Description: The Aflac duck expands its acting chops (feathers?) in this cute commercial that spoofs drawing-room mystery denouements. Naturally, "Whodunit?" is...More
Client: Choice Hotels International, Inc. Brand: Choice Hotels International Agency: Arnold Worldwide Description: In today's economy, it's hardly surprising that commercials for a budget-hotel company would emphasize the savings you'll get thanks to the free...More
Client: Boston Market Corp. Brand: Boston Market Restaurants Agency: Fallon Worldwide Description: What would you do for a taste of Boston Market's new Crispy Country Chicken? Fallon's first work for the restaurant chain shows the lengths people go...More
Client: 2K Sports Brand: 2K Sports Agency: Ground Zero Description: San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum teaches his virtual twin the rules of the game in a spot for 2K Sports' MLB 2K9 by Ground Zero in Marina del...More
Client: Church & Dwight Co., Inc. Brand: Trojan Condoms Agency: The Kaplan Thaler Group Description: Nothing warms a girl's heart more than getting an STD from her boyfriend on her 21st birthday. This online Trojan spot finds a way to weave scary...More February 2009
Client: Boost Mobile Brand: Boost Mobile Wireless Phone Service Agency: 180 LA Description: It might be best if ad agency 180LA didn't win a Mexican-food account anytime soon. It'll take a while, after all, before we forget the image in this...More
Client: The Hoover Co. Brand: Hoover Vacuum Cleaners Agency: The Martin Agency, Inc. Description: There's nothing wrong with a healthy obsession with cleanliness. But when you make a spot that?s based on the premise of giving "clean freaks" the...More
Client: Frito-Lay Co. Brand: TrueNorth Agency: StrawberryFrog Description: I love the woman featured in this commercial. Unlike most ads that strive to be "inspirational," this one actually hits he mark. Actress Helen Hunt...More
Client: OSI Restaurant Partners, Inc. Brand: Carrabba's Italian Grill Restaurants Agency: MMB Description: MMB has long worked on Subway's campaigns, so I was intrigued by what the Boston agency might cook up in its debut effort for such a markedly...More
Client: Nike, Inc. Brand: Nike Athletic Footwear Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Inc. Description: Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins shows how performance and pain are intrinsically linked in the world of sports, or at least his world, in this new...More
Client: TransUnion LLC Brand: TrueCredit.com Agency: Cramer-Krasselt Description: It worked for the Three Stooges, it can work for a credit-report service! Physical slapstick, that is. It's what we find, at any rate, in this spot...More
Client: General Mills, Inc. Brand: Betty Crocker Cookie, Cake & Muffin Mixes Agency: McCann Erickson Description: We all know that "kids say the darnedest things," so I expected this online Valentine?s spot from Betty Crocker that stars young children giving their...More
Client: Kyocera Mita America, Inc. Brand: Kyocera Mita Copiers, Printers & Fax Machines Agency: Seiter & Miller Advertising Description: It's time to follow the dancing logo. In this spot for Kyocera Mita America's TASKalfa copier, the brand's logo is the star of the 30-second show as...More
Client: Tommy Hilfiger Sportswear, Inc. Brand: Tommy Hilfiger Apparel Agency: In-House Description: Tommy Hilfiger strives to tell "American Stories" in a new global print, out-of-home and online campaign produced via its in-house creative team in...More
Client: Kia Motors America Brand: Kia Cars & Trucks Agency: Publicis Canada Description: Just in time for Friday the 13th, a Canadian ad for Kia spoofs the classic horror flick, only here the masked murderer is so distracted by the new...More
Client: Himmel Nutrition Inc. Brand: Ovaltine Beverage Mix Agency: Marcus Thomas LLC Description: You've got to say this for advertising: It has done more than the National Endowment for the Arts to bring opera (albeit in 30-second snippets) to a...More
Client: Kraft Foods Brand: Chips Ahoy! Cookies Agency: DraftFCB Description: All the talk about the Great Depression seems to be leading agencies to Wizard of Oz themes. GE began running a spot on the Super Bowl starring a...More
Client: Jack in the Box, Inc. Brand: Jack in the Box Restaurants Agency: Secret Weapon Marketing Description: What?s better than a Super Bowl spot featuring a bus crash? How about two of them? Some Super Bowl viewers were treated to two commercials revolving...More
Client: ClearWay Minnesota Brand: ClearWay Minnesota Agency: Clarity Coverdale Fury Advertising Description: The most important line in Barack Obama's inaugural address may have been his use of the Biblical admonition that we "set aside childish things." The...More January 2009
Client: Cash4Gold Brand: Cash4Gold Agency: Euro RSCG Edge Description: It's an exceptionally unusual Super Bowl year indeed when Cash4Gold shells out the big bucks to upgrade its late-night infomercial pitch to an in-game...More
Client: GoDaddy.com Brand: GoDaddy.com Agency: In-House Description: GoDaddy.com made a grand entrance on the Super Bowl four years ago with a spot starring the buxom "GoDaddy Girl," who broke a tank-top strap and...More
Client: Legal Sea Foods Brand: Legal Sea Foods Agency: DeVito Verdi Description: Nothing says ?presidential? like the sound of the commander-in-chief slurping soup. Legal Sea Foods is hitching a ride on today?s historic inauguratio...More
Client: Nestle USA, Inc. Brand: Gerber Baby Foods Agency: DraftFCB Description: Here's a baby-food commercial displaying no food and just a single already-born baby -- and that one for just a couple of seconds. Let's start, then,...More
Client: IKEA North America Services, LLC Brand: IKEA Home Furnishings Agency: iDeutsch Description: The notion of Ikea furnishing the Oval Office might just be the perfect expression of yuppified, post-ironic marketing-driven "Americana." The Swedish...More
Client: PepsiCo Beverages & Foods Brand: Tropicana Pure Premium Fruit Juices Agency: Arnell Group Description: I'm torn over Arnell's "Squeeze" campaign for Tropicana. The name does immediately bring freshly squeezed orange juice to mind, and the "It's a...More
Client: Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc. Brand: Toyota Cars & Trucks Agency: Attik Description: This Attik spot for Toyota's Scion tries to break free of car-ad category cliches. There are no gleaming vehicles racing along scenic highways at...More
Client: GEICO Brand: Geico Insurance Agency: The Martin Agency, Inc. Description: The sledgehammer-wielding old coot in this new Geico spot looks like the protagonist of a series of horror movies. (The vignette here could be the...More December 2008
Client: GEICO Brand: Geico Insurance Agency: The Martin Agency, Inc. Description: The return of Geico's gecko is always good news. Here, the green guy mulls an image change: Should he get more serious and dress accordingly in a tiny...More
Client: Pepsi-Cola Co. Brand: Pepsi-Cola Agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day Description: Here's "Wordplay," the first TV ad from newly crowned Pepsi shop TBWA\Chiat\Day. The animated montage features feel-good messages ("love," "optimism,"...More
Client: American Honda Motor Co., Inc. Brand: Honda Cars & Trucks Agency: Rubin Postaer and Associates Description: Flattery may not get you everywhere, but it'll give you a head start in the right direction. This Honda spot (via RPA of Santa Monica, Calif.)...More
Client: ESPN, Inc. Brand: ESPN360.com Agency: Arnold Worldwide Description: I'm actually in the market for a blanket with sleeves that I can wear while reading (Snuggies are Blankets With Sleeves to Keep You Snuggie!) and a...More
Client: Nvidia Brand: Nvidia Agency: Cutwater Description: Its detractors say the ad business specializes in mumbo-jumbo. To the extent they're right, this teaser spot for Nvidia (by San Francisco-based agency...More
Client: The TJX Companies, Inc. Brand: Marshalls Stores Agency: GSD&M's Idea City Description: Amid all the grim economic news, consumers won't welcome holiday-shopping commercials that are overly cheery. But do they want to see lost reindeer...More
Client: Nintendo of America Brand: Nintendo DS Portable Game System Agency: Leo Burnett Worldwide, Inc. Description: Mother and child cooking in the kitchen. How exciting can it get? It doesn't, but countless of advertisers have given us ridiculously unreal kitchen...More
Client: Nike, Inc. Brand: Brand Jordan Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Inc. Description: The Bowl Championship Series ranking system takes a hit in Wieden + Kennedy's latest ad for Brand Jordan titled "Simple Math." The visceral spot...More
Client: GEICO Brand: Geico Insurance Agency: The Martin Agency, Inc. Description: It's about as simple a concept as can be created for advertising: in this new campaign for Geico from The Martin Agency, a stack of bills, topped...More
Client: Park City Mountain Resort Brand: Park City Mountain Resort Agency: Thomas Taber & Drazen Description: We're accustomed to travel-destination ads that tout family togetherness. But this ad for Utah's Park City Mountain Resort (via Denver agency Thomas...More
Client: World Kitchen, LLC Brand: Corningware Agency: Cramer-Krasselt Description: How high is your tolerance for goofiness? Your answer likely predicts how you'll react to this spot for CorningWare, via Cramer-Krasselt of Milwaukee....More
Client: Boomerang Brand: Boomerang Agency: Nicebigbrain Description: Does Santa really need a GPS device? Isn't he all-seeing and all-knowing? This amusing holiday-themed spot for Boomerang out of Nicebigbrain in New...More
Client: Sony Computer Entertainment America Brand: Playstation 3 Game Console & Software Agency: Deutsch\LA, Inc. Description: Entertainment "takes over" an urban neighborhood in a PlayStation 3 spot from Deutsch in Los Angeles. The ad is all about the effects, keeping viewers...More November 2008
Client: Apple Computer, Inc. Brand: Apple Computer, Inc. Agency: TBWA Media Arts Lab Description: Having recently purchased a snazzy aluminum-encased MacBook strictly out of brand loyalty, it was an added bonus to learn that my purchase is not only...More
Client: Microsoft Game Studios Brand: Xbox 360 Game System & Software Agency: T.A.G. Description: "Hi, I?m obviously Burt Reynolds,? the great toupeed one says by way of introduction in this TV spot promoting "You're in the Movies," a new...More
Client: Knouse Foods Brand: Musselman's Agency: Brunner Description: We're likely to see a lot of down-homey, uncorporate advertising in the coming year as a deepening recession fosters anti-corporate sentiment among...More
Client: Gold's Gym International, Inc. Brand: Gold's Gyms Agency: McKinney Description: Getting to the gym isn't the easiest thing to do and gyms have tried all sorts of tactics to entice people through the door and keep them coming back....More
Client: Welch Foods, Inc. Brand: Welch's Fruit Juices Agency: The VIA Group Description: What's a chalkboard doing out in the vineyards in this spot (by The Via Group) for Welch's Grape Juice? Helping to illustrate a mini-lecture by Alton...More
Client: Alltel Communications Brand: Alltel Wireless Communications Agency: Campbell-Ewald Description: The holiday season gives us all permission to be kids again, so when Alltel Wireless presents another stop-motion ad series that plays homage to the...More
Client: Samsung Electronics America Brand: Samsung Wireless Telephones Agency: Leo Burnett Worldwide, Inc. Description: Marble-mouthed British rocker Ozzy Osbourne gets some translation help in this hilarious new spot for Samsung Propel from Leo Burnett, Chicago....More
Client: Ubisoft, Inc. Brand: Ubisoft Video Games Agency: Moses Anshell Description: How would you define chess? Perhaps not as "A game you can't play with your butt." But consumers will take truth in advertising where they find it,...More
Client: Citigroup Brand: Citibank Credit Cards Agency: Publicis in New York Description: You know the type. You may even be one yourself. That's why the friends who star in a new Citibank spot promoting the company's alliance with Live...More
Client: Hyatt Hotels Corp. Brand: Hyatt Hotels & Resorts Agency: BBDO Worldwide Description: It's never a safe bet that people will be polite. So, when this Hyatt commercial (via BBDO, New York) predicts that a Hyatt customer will say "thank...More
Client: Arby's Restaurant Group, Inc. Brand: Arby's Roast Beef Restaurants Agency: Merkley + Partners Description: Arby's receives warnings attached to frozen hamburger patties hurled through its windows. "Stop making the new Arby's Roastburger or else..." Luckily,...More October 2008
Client: Comcast Cable Communications, LLC Brand: Comcast Cable Television Service Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, Inc. Description: ?An intervention for television? What the hell is going on?? Those are the first words we hear from LaMel after he walks into his Richmond, Calif.,...More
Client: Maimonides Medical Center Brand: Maimonides Medical Center Agency: Della Femina Rothschild Jeary and Partners Description: The testimonial of a satisfied customer can be a useful marketing tool for any brand. The testimonial of a customer who might be six feet under were...More
Client: The Travelers Cos., Inc. Brand: Travelers Insurance Agency: Fallon Intersect Description: The well-dressed Travelers Insurance man and his helpful red umbrella return in new spots from Fallon, but this time his fixes aren't so magical. In...More
Client: Conservatives for Change Brand: Conservatives for Change Agency: Deutsch\LA, Inc. Description: We only have about two and a half weeks to go before the tensest Presidential election in our lifetimes. The anxiety levels for both parties are...More
Client: Olympus America, Inc. Brand: Olympus Cameras & Accessories Agency: Deutsch, Inc. Description: Is that a corkscrew the kid is using as fulcrum to launch the family camera into the air? (From this angle, it looks like the one I've got at home.)...More
Client: U.S. Dept of Treasury Brand: U.S. Dept of Treasury Agency: Lowe Worldwide Description: A public service campaign by the Ad Council and the U.S. Department of Treasury urges teens and young adults to keep their credit card spending in...More
Client: Apple Computer, Inc. Brand: Apple Computer, Inc. Agency: TBWA Media Arts Lab Description: The ad war between Apple and Microsoft intensifies this week as a new spot from TBWA\Media Arts Lab takes another volley at Microsoft and its Vista...More
Client: Circuit City Stores, Inc. Brand: Circuit City Stores Agency: Euro RSCG Chicago Description: Though voters insist they hate negative advertising, the results on election day tend to show they're swayed by such messages. The same is...More
Client: InterContinental Hotels Group Brand: Holiday Inn Express Agency: Fallon Worldwide Description: A newborn baby can't claim to be smart because it stayed in a Holiday Inn Express the previous night. But a new spot for that brand (via Fallon,...More
Client: British Columbia Dairy Association Brand: BC Dairy Agency: Tribal DDB Description: Talk about building, if not a better mousetrap, than the scariest one ever created. As part of a series of Internet spots promoting the British...More
Client: California Milk Advisory Board Brand: Califorinia Milk Advisory Board Agency: Deutsch\LA, Inc. Description: The audition clip as TV commercial has become as common an ad theme as the reality TV phenomenon that spawned it. The California Milk Advisory Board...More
Client: Volkswagen of America, Inc. Brand: Volkswagen Cars Agency: Crispin Porter + Bogusky Description: It's alive! For all those wannabe mammas who want to see what their union with their true love will produce but don't want to invest the nine months...More
Client: General Motors Corp. Brand: Hummer All-Terrain Vehicles Agency: Modernista! Description: Fly fishing. Kite surfing. Mountain climbing. Whatever the outdoor sport, the new Hummer pickup can get you there. That's the message behind...More
Client: Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority Brand: Las Vegas Tourism Agency: R&R Partners Description: A cheap blonde with expensive tastes. In life, that's a formula for disaster. But it's a winning concept for a spot aimed at luring tourists to...More September 2008
Client: Microsoft Game Studios Brand: Xbox 360 Game System & Software Agency: McCann Worldgroup Description: In this new Xbox branding spot from McCann's T.A.G. in San Francisco, the childlike wonderment and excitement of Rock Band comes to life in the...More
Client: The Procter & Gamble Co. Brand: Tide to Go Instant Stain Remover Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide Description: Tide to Go surprised Super Bowl viewers last year with a breakthrough spot about a talking stain that interrupts a guy's job interview. Last night,...More
Client: Capital IQ Brand: Capital IQ Agency: Della Femina Rothschild Jeary and Partners Description: The man on the street would be happy these days to see investment bankers and other Wall Street types taken off in tumbrels to the guillotine. But...More
Client: Airborne Allergy Brand: AIRBORNE Agency: Bartle Bogle Hegarty Ltd. Description: A romance novel hero named Sebastian is recruited to deliver cold-fighting supplement Airborne in Bartle Bogle Hegarty's first work for the brand. The...More
Client: Audi of America, Inc. Brand: Audi Cars Agency: Bartle Bogle Hegarty Ltd. Description: Last week, we wrote in this space about a tire commercial that illustrated the word "sticky" in a number of eye-catching ways. Here, we have an...More
Client: Levi Strauss & Co. Brand: Levi's Apparel Agency: Cutwater Description: This new Levi's viral from Cutwater, San Francisco, gives a refreshingly funny visual interpretation of the word "knockout." A beautiful woman wearing...More
Client: Microsoft Corp. Brand: Microsoft Corp. Agency: Crispin Porter + Bogusky Description: Watching Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld clown around in Microsoft's new ads from Crispin Porter + Bogusky, you can't help but think about Apple. Of...More
Client: Bridgestone America's Holding Inc. Brand: Bridgestone Tires Agency: The Richards Group, Inc. Description: "Sticky" has become a buzzword in Internet-commerce circles. This TV spot for Bridgestone tires (via The Richards Group, Dallas) gives vivid...More
Client: EmblemHealth Brand: EmblemHealth Agency: Hill Holliday Description: This rebranding effort for EmblemHealth scores because the spots reflect a true New York state of mind. Emblem is touting itself to New Yorkers as...More
Client: AT&T Mobility Brand: AT&T Wireless Agency: BBDO Worldwide Description: This new AT&T spot feels more like a dated ad for a video game than for the new Sony Ericsson Walkman phone and music player. Driven by computer...More
Client: ESPN, Inc. Brand: ESPN Cable Sports Network Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Inc. Description: A new campaign for ESPN's Monday Night Football gives viewers something to look forward to other than the beginning of the work week with spots that...More
Client: The Procter & Gamble Co. Brand: Pepto-Bismol Antacid Agency: Publicis in New York Description: Since Pepto-Bismol's 2004 introduction of its ridiculously catchy diarrhea dance -- the one where everyone from average Joes to movie monsters shake...More
Client: Taco Bell Corp. Brand: Taco Bell Restaurants Agency: DraftFCB Description: Watching TV commercials, the proverbial visitor from outer space might conclude that the social life of young adults consists largely of commenting...More
Client: IdeaPaint Brand: IdeaPaint Agency: Mullen Description: Mullen's "Expand your canvas" effort for IdeaPaint transforms what could easily have been a dry b-to-b pitch into something a bit more special....More
Client: AARP Brand: AARP Agency: GSD&M's Idea City Description: Talk about scare tactics. The AARP's latest "Divided we fail" effort by GSD&M Idea City is enough to make a person take a real interest in...More August 2008
Client: Canon USA, Inc. Brand: Canon USA, Inc. Agency: Dentsu America Description: Which has a stronger claim on your affections -- dogs or professional athletes? Those who'd make the canine choice (surely a majority of Americans)...More
Client: Annie's Homegrown, Inc. Brand: Annie's Organic Prepared Foods Agency: TDA Advertising & Design Description: TDA's first work for Annie's Homegrown takes an old-school approach. These eye-pleasing print ads and posters use traditional school settings -- no...More
Client: Brown-Forman Beverages Worldwide Brand: Jack Daniel's Whiskey Agency: Arnold Worldwide Description: They got plastered all over Denver yesterday -- these print pieces for Jack Daniel's, I mean. And not a minute too soon. No doubt delegates at the...More
Client: Bojangles' Restaurants, Inc. Brand: Bojangles' Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits Restaurants Agency: Eric Mower and Associates Description: Carolina Panthers QB Jake Delhomme stars in this Bojangles' spot by Eric Mower & Associates that plays off the old three-wishes-from-a-genie-gone-...More
Client: EA Sports Brand: EA Sports Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Inc. Description: As far as golf fans and marketers are concerned, Tiger Woods walks on water. In this video by Wieden + Kennedy, he does just that in order to play an...More
Client: Apple Computer, Inc. Brand: Apple Computer, Inc. Agency: TBWA Media Arts Lab Description: The Mac and PC return! Well, all of the Mac is back, as Justin Long is fully visible throughout this spot targeting the college crowd. The PC, on the...More
Client: Nike, Inc. Brand: Nike Athletic Footwear Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Inc. Description: This new "Just Do It" spot that broke during the Olympics is stirring and inspiring -- another admirable portrayal of the athletic spirit from Wieden...More
Client: AT&T Mobility Brand: AT&T Wireless Agency: BBDO Worldwide Description: Butterflies flutter in a tight shot opening this AT&T spot touting the wireless network's exclusive mobile distribution of the 2008 Beijing Games....More
Client: Lenovo Group Ltd. Brand: Lenovo Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide Description: The Beijing Olympic Games should be a prime platform for Lenovo, China's largest PC manufacturer, to tout its heritage. But the company, which...More
Client: QVC, Inc. Brand: QVC Cable Shopping Channel Agency: In-House Description: I'm not a major Joan Rivers fan, but I have to admit that the way she screeches, "This face has seen more knives than a Benihana" in a recent Geico...More
Client: Staples, Inc. Brand: Staples Office Supply Superstores Agency: McCann Erickson Worldwide Description: The Staples Easy Button is getting out of the office in a new back-to-school campaign from McCann Erickson, New York. Only in new 15-seconds spots...More
Client: The Coca-Cola Co. Brand: Coca-Cola Classic Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Inc. Description: The Beijing Olympics kicked off today and TV screens will be jammed with idealized messages of hope as brands spread their one-world mantra in the...More
Client: Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp. Brand: Burlington Coat Factory Stores Agency: Cramer-Krasselt/Hampel Stefanides Description: Back-to-school season is one of mixed emotions for parents. On the plus side, they know their kids will be someone else's problem for much of each...More
Client: Bacardi Global Brands Brand: Bacardi Martini Bianco Agency: Momentum Description: A ritzy cocktail party, filled with fashionable people, in some fabulous Mediterranean isle setting is pretty much de rigeur for a spot selling...More
Client: Dr Pepper/7Up, Inc. Brand: Dr Pepper Soft Drink Agency: Deutsch\LA, Inc. Description: Who knew the original Dr Pepper is a blend of 23 flavors and that it tastes better if you drink it slowly? A taste test is needed to prove that last...More July 2008
Client: Friendly Ice Cream Corp. Brand: Friendly's Ice Cream Agency: Zimmerman Advertising, Inc. Description: Imagine a Norman Rockwell-esque family, mom, dad, junior, and kitten, sitting in a booth at Friendly's, eating ice cream; next thing we know, they're...More
Client: Nike, Inc. Brand: Nike Athletic Footwear Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Inc. Description: Gay or straight, what basketball player -- or anyone for that matter -- wants a sweaty crotch all up in their face? This Nike print ad for Hyperdunk...More
Client: Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc. Brand: Toyota Cars & Trucks Agency: Attik Description: "United by Individuality," the new tagline created by Attik for a major integrated campaign for the Toyota Scion, has at its core an oxymoron and...More
Client: Planet Green Brand: Planet Green Net Agency: Amalgamated LLC Description: Would you want to be compared to a geeky guy wearing swim trunks that are so bright, his groin literally shines like a beacon from the top of a rocky...More
Client: Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc. Brand: Lexus Cars & Trucks Agency: Team One Advertising Description: A car commercial that doesn't have a pretentious voiceover, particularly with luxe brands, is hard to find. And while this new Lexus spot out of Team...More
Client: South Beach Beverage Co. Brand: SoBe Life Water Vitamin-Enhanced Water Agency: Arnell Group Description: Hot (and hot-tempered) supermodel Naomi Campbell? Check. Colony of dancing water lizards, courtesy of CGI? Check. Weren't those the same components...More
Client: Parrot Brand: Parrot Wireless Agency: Ground Zero Description: Ground Zero has launched a quirky and multifaceted California-only campaign for Parrot, a France-based provider of wireless communications technology....More
Client: American Legacy Foundation Brand: American Legacy Foundation Agency: Arnold Worldwide Description: The singin' and dancin' anti-smoking campaign from the American Legacy Foundation (by Arnold and Crispin, Porter + Bogusky) reminds me of the segments...More
Client: Sealy Corp. Brand: Sealy Mattresses Agency: Cramer-Krasselt Description: Commercials often combine a practical appeal with a more emotional appeal. A new campaign for Sealy mattresses (by Cramer-Krasselt, Chicago) combines...More
Client: Denny's Corporation Brand: Denny's Restaurants Agency: Publicis in Mid America Dallas Description: Denny's claims "nothing good happens after midnight," except at its restaurants of course. The chain is trying to officially brand itself as the...More
Client: N.E. Aquarium Brand: N.E. Aquarium Agency: Mullen Description: The fun thing about sharks at an aquarium is that those scary creatures are on the other side of a thick sheet of glass, through which we can stick...More June 2008
Client: Metro Transit Brand: Metro Transit Agency: Periscope Description: "What happened to the car? Well, it's like this...Metro Transit of Minneapolis has a message for consumers. That message is: 'Throw away the car!' And...More
Client: Barbeques Galore, Inc. Brand: Barbeques Galore Agency: Young & Rubicam, Inc. Description: Showing me an angry pig in an ad for BBQ equipment won't convince me to try the brand. In fact, the tactic is ultimately annoying, because it reminds...More
Client: United States Cellular Corp. Brand: U.S. Cellular Wireless Telecommunications Service Agency: Publicis & Hal Riney Description: Have you ever wondered how sometimes you just know a certain someone is going to call right before they do? U.S. Cellular explains that the caller...More
Client: Nuveen Investments, Inc. Brand: Nuveen Financial Services Agency: Fallon Intersect Description: Financial-service advertisers like to link themselves to a winner, and then to beat the "winning" theme thoroughly into the ground. With its...More
Client: Rio Suites Brand: Rio Suites Agency: R&R Partners Description: For our high-minded readers (there must be a few of you out there), the phrase "Queen of the Night" will bring to mind the character of that name in...More
Client: Kaiser Permanente Brand: Kaiser Permanente Health Insurance Agency: Campbell-Ewald Description: The nice thing about a commercial for a healthcare provider in Hawaii is that it can show picturesque locals in their picturesque locale. This spot...More
Client: Cedra Brand: Cedra Agency: Door Number 3 Description: Door Number 3 in Austin, Texas, developed GetYourDrugOn.com, an online promo for Cedra, a company that does overnight medical testing. The site lets...More
Client: Nike, Inc. Brand: Nike Golf Equipment Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Inc. Description: It started running on Father's Day, but even without that peg, this latest Nike commercial from Wieden + Kennedy in Portland, Ore., featuring an...More
Client: VERSUS Brand: VERSUS Cable Network Agency: The Concept Farm Description: The "Take back the tour" campaign by The Concept Farm touts Tour de France coverage on the Versus cable network and aims to serve as a voice for...More
Client: Apple Computer, Inc. Brand: Apple iPhone Agency: TBWA Media Arts Lab Description: There's so much buzz and demand for Apple's iPhone 2.0, the company probably doesn't need to advertise. It does anyway, serving up this quasi-futurist...More
Client: La Quinta Corp. Brand: La Quinta Inn & Suites Agency: Mullen Description: In airline advertising, business travelers tend to be the most conventional, buttoned-down people in the world. Something must happen to them after...More
Client: GFA Brands, Inc. Brand: Smart Balance Foods Agency: Trahan, Burden & Charles, Inc. Description: This spot for Smart Balance fat-free milk has bad news about 2 percent milk. Or maybe it's good news about French fries. Created by Baltimore-based...More
Client: ExpressJet Airlines, Inc. Brand: ExpressJet Airlines Agency: Dentsu America Description: For people who travel by air these days, getting there is almost none of the fun. That's why commercials that depict airline flights as luxurious or...More
Client: Brown-Forman Beverages Worldwide Brand: Jack Daniel's Whiskey Agency: Arnold One Description: This 60-second spot for Jack Daniel's from Arnold will run in cinemas in the U.K., where, apparently, the scotch-whiskey drinking locals need to be...More
Client: Hanesbrands Inc. Brand: Hanes Apparel Agency: The Martin Agency, Inc. Description: If you bumped into Michael Jordan and tried to chat him up, would he politely escape as soon as possible? Good chance. So, it's somehow gratifying to...More May 2008
Client: Blue Cross Brand: Blue Cross Agency: Tierney Communications Description: If you ever feel you've grown old just sitting through some commercials, you might take special pleasure in a campaign whose protagonists grow old in...More
Client: Conservation International Brand: Conservation International Agency: BBDO Worldwide Description: Harrison Ford waxing his chest. That alone is reason enough to view this PSA for Conservation International featuring the iconic Indiana Jones star....More
Client: Sports Museum of America Brand: Sports Museum of America Agency: The Gate Worldwide Description: In our cynical age of steroid scandals, self-indulgent pampered star athletes and Michael Vick, it doesn't hurt to be reminded of the transcendent...More
Client: SpeedPark Brand: SpeedPark Agency: Brandon Advertising Description: In New York, if you saw a commercial that ended with an oddly dressed man sleeping in a doorway, you'd figure it was a PSA for homeless services....More
Client: Legal Sea Foods Brand: Legal Sea Foods Agency: DeVito Verdi Description: Legal Sea Foods' "Fresh Fish" campaign is probably too simplistic and sophomoric to be considered truly iconic. And yet ... the ads have proven...More
Client: MTV Networks, Inc. Brand: MTV International Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide Description: Created to express a message of support to the citizens of Burma (otherwise now known as Myanmar) living under a military junta, this short haunting...More
Client: Bombardier Recreational Products North America Brand: Evinrude Outboard Motors Agency: Cramer-Krasselt Description: Women will think this spot puts the "rude" in "Evinrude." (They can complain to Cramer-Krasselt of Milwaukee.) Men will get a kick out of its...More
Client: Hackensack University Medical Center Brand: Hackensack University Medical Center Agency: Della Femina Rothschild Jeary and Partners Description: It takes nerve to kill off Grandpa in making a sales pitch for a hospital. That's what the story line seems to do in this spot for Hackensack...More
Client: Luxottica Retail Brand: Pearle Vision Centers Agency: Arnold Worldwide Description: Why do I think of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" when I see these Pearle Vision spots? Oh, that's right: since 2007, via Arnold, Pearle Vision has...More
Client: The Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. Brand: Scotts Lawn & Garden Products Agency: ML Rogers Description: Granted, it's a counterintuitive concept: a sexy sales pitch for plant food and potting mix and the like. But it works in this commercial for...More
Client: Time Warner Cable Brand: Time Warner Cable TV Service Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Description: That's certainly a cute puppy. Yeah, mighty cute. Even so, Time Warner's contention that DirecTV hates puppies is a bit hard to swallow -- even in...More
Client: Absolut Spirits Co., Inc. Brand: Absolut Vodka Agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day Description: This visually appealing Absolut spot sprang from a print execution that showed a cocktail glass exploding to reveal the liquid inside. Here, we're...More
Client: Microsoft Zune Brand: Microsoft Zune Agency: McCann Erickson Description: In a new spot for Zune's monthly music package, McCann Worldgroup's T.A.G. in San Francisco skips dramatic visual effects for an unadorned appreciatio...More
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