Ad of the Day
November 2009
 Client: eBay, Inc. Brand: eBay.com Auction Website Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, Inc. Description: Here's a tattoo parlor visit gone wrong. Michael Ian Black, using a camera purchased on eBay, takes digital photos of fellow comedian Michael...More
Client: De Beers Brand: De Beers Agency: JWT Description: "Now more than ever, you're each other's greatest strength." So says the voiceover in this predictably syrupy seasonal spot from De Beers. Those words...More October 2009
Client: Daffy's Brand: Daffy's Apparel Stores Agency: Johannes Leonardo Description: I guess you just had to be there. Daffy's weeklong live in-theater ad ends today and from what the video shows, it seems audiences enjoyed the...More
Client: Nike, Inc. Brand: Jordan Apparel Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Inc. Description: These days, a 60-second commercial (on the rare occasions when you see one) can seem as long as Ivan the Terrible Part 1 plus Ivan the Terrible Part...More
Client: Apple Computer, Inc. Brand: Apple Computer, Inc. Agency: TBWA Media Arts Lab Description: For most, hearing the phrase "trust me" instantly raises suspicions. Here, Apple effectively leverages this fact to raise doubts about Microsoft's new...More
Client: Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc. Brand: Jim Beam Whiskey Agency: EnergyBBDO Description: Jameson gives us a namesake who fights a giant octopus in a new spot. A high-profile ad from Johnnie Walker's offers a celebrated actor who eloquently...More
Client: Porsche Cars North America, Inc. Brand: Porsche Cars Agency: Cramer-Krasselt Description: A sports car with backseat drivers? It's a tricky concept to sell. But that's the challenge for this spot (via Cramer-Krasselt, Chicago) as it...More
Client: Verizon Wireless Brand: Verizon Wireless Mobile Communications Agency: McGarryBowen Description: Mcgarrybowen's teaser commercial for Verizon's Motorola Droid broke over the weekend. While TV viewers don't so much as get a glimpse at what experts...More
Client: The Travelers Cos., Inc. Brand: Travelers Insurance Agency: Fallon Intersect Description: Fallon floats a flock of artful, big-budget spots for Travelers Insurance. Whether you agree with the mega-TV strategy or not, this latest 60-second...More
Client: Party City Corp. Brand: Party City Stores Agency: Zimmerman Advertising, Inc. Description: Halloween is a holiday that used to belong to the little pumpkins among us, but has become an outlet for adults to express their biggest fears or...More
Client: J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Brand: Chase Card Services Agency: McGarryBowen Description: We're trained from infancy to enjoy hearing stories, which is why it's seldom a bad idea to give a narrative arc to sales pitches. This spot via...More
Client: Unilever Home & Personal Care-USA Brand: Vaseline Intensive Care Products Agency: Bartle Bogle Hegarty Ltd. Description: Men and women encased in white bodysuits from head to toe perform an aerial ballet to illustrate the powerful penetrative abilities of Vaseline's...More
Client: Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority Brand: Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Agency: R&R Partners Description: It probably says something unflattering about human nature that the reading of a will is a reliable source of comedy in numerous movies, plays and TV...More
Client: Mohawk Industries Brand: Mohawk Agency: Cramer-Krasselt Description: Frozen moments have been used to capture everything from the swing of khakis and Michael Jordan?s gravity-defying moves to the topsy-turvy toss of an...More
Client: Bugaboo Brand: Bugaboo Agency: 72andSunny Description: Dutch stroller company Bugaboo recently joined the growing list of marketers in the Product (RED) family, becoming the first partner to...More September 2009
Client: National Parks Foundation Brand: National Parks Foundation Agency: Modernista! Description: Are national parks mainly places in which nature is protected from man and his dreadful works? Or are they mainly places where man (and man's cute...More
Client: Target Corp. Brand: Target Stores Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Inc. Description: Pearl Jam in a Target commercial. What has the world come to? Nothing in this spot tells fans much about this partnership. Sure, you?ll see the band...More
Client: Johnson & Johnson Brand: Halls Agency: JWT New York Description: An inappropriate attraction develops between a mother and her college son's roommate over a shared "surprisingly mouth-watering" Halls "Refresh." And...More
Client: Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc. Brand: Toyota Cars & Trucks Agency: Dentsu America Description: After all the automotive commercials that show cars gliding though S-curves or zooming down city streets, there's something oddly surprising about one...More
Client: Dr Pepper/7Up, Inc. Brand: Diet Dr Pepper Soft Drink Agency: Deutsch\LA, Inc. Description: There's a support group for everything these days, so why not one for all those characters that are suffering from "I don't exist" syndrome? This...More
Client: Monster.Com Brand: Monster.Com Agency: BBDO New York Description: Good thing the CSI team doesn't have a "take your friend to work day." A new Monster.com spot from BBDO New York shows what might happen if an...More
Client: Whirlpool Corp. Brand: Maytag Appliances Agency: Publicis in New York Description: It's always fun to watch people making a mess, as long as you're not the one who has to clean it up. A commercial for Maytag (via Publicis in New...More
Client: VF Corp. Brand: Wrangler Jeans & Sportswear Agency: Fred & Farid Description: Paris' Fred & Farid won top honors in Cannes for its "We are animals" press campaign for Wrangler Europe, a provocative series that seeped the...More
Client: Microsoft Corp. Brand: Microsoft Corp. Agency: Crispin Porter + Bogusky Description: Kylie is no doubt the cutest face in the PC/Mac ad war so it is not surprising that Microsoft brought this adorable computer-literate four year old...More
Client: Nissin Foods USA Brand: Nissin Chow Mein Agency: Dentsu America Los Angeles Description: If a one-foot-tall Asian wise man, complete with pointy beard and mandarin robes, materialized when you were microwaving some instant noodles in your...More
Client: Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority Brand: Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Agency: R&R Partners Description: If Chinchilli Day doesn't make it onto the calendar as an official holiday, it won't be for lack of trying by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors...More
Client: IKEA North America Services, LLC Brand: IKEA Home Furnishings Agency: Deutsch, Inc. Description: For a couple just back from vacation, it looks like these two need another break. In this Ikea spot from Deutsch, New York, a woman walks into a...More
Client: The Ad Council Brand: The Ad Council Agency: Cramer-Krasselt Description: With the anniversaries of Hurricane Katrina and 9/11 top of mind, this arresting PSA from Cramer-Krasselt and the Ad Council does a nice job...More
Client: Target Corp. Brand: Target Stores Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Inc. Description: Why is Pepto pink? If you happen to be shopping at Target and have a burning need to find out, feel free to stop by the pharmacy counter and ask. A...More
Client: J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Brand: Chase Card Services Agency: McGarryBowen Description: Everyone loves freebies, and it seems upscale consumers are just as thrilled as the rest of us when they feel like they are getting something for...More August 2009
Client: Kraft Foods Brand: Oreo Cookies Agency: DraftFCB Description: What's more disturbing, Donald Trump challenging Eli and Peyton Manning to a "lick race," or seeing "Double Trump?" In this Draftfcb spot introducing...More
Client: Goldn' Plump Brand: Gold'n Plump Agency: GdB Description: It's a sign of the troubled times that a commercial for "locally raised" Gold'n Plump Chicken (via GdB of Minneapolis) includes a slap at the fat cats...More
Client: Adidas-Salomon North America, Inc. Brand: Adidas Athletic Footwear Agency: Riot (180\TBWA\Critical Mass) Description: Ethiopian marathon runner Haile Gebrselassie and American sprinter Tyson Gay go neck and neck in an Adidas spot that offers an interesting insight...More
Client: ESPN, Inc. Brand: ESPN Cable Sports Network Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Inc. Description: ESPN pokes fun at the on-again, off-again retirement plans of Brett Favre, who is attempting a comeback with the Minnesota Vikings. This Wieden +...More
Client: Miller Brewing Co. Brand: Miller Beer Agency: TBC Description: Is Vietnam ready for "American Time?" Miller Beer is being introduced into the Vietnamese market with an upbeat commercial from TBC in Baltimore that,...More
Client: United States Cellular Corp. Brand: U.S. Cellular Wireless Telecommunications Service Agency: Publicis & Hal Riney Description: Publicis & Hal Riney turns a San Francisco street into a deep-sea adventure in this charming spot for U.S. Cellular. Giant balloons, soap bubbles...More
Client: Samsung Electronics America Brand: Samsung Wireless Telephones Agency: Lapiz Description: As much as we all love Ozzy, it's time for the rock legend to exit the pitch business. Every ad he's in finds the aging heavy-metal anti-hero blurting...More
Client: Miller Brewing Co. Brand: Foster's Lager Agency: Digitas Description: Not every well-remembered campaign is "iconic." Some were only mildly amusing, like Foster's "How to speak Australian," which was informed by the...More
Client: Iconix Brand Group, Inc. Brand: London Fog Raincoats Agency: In-House Description: Gisele Bundchen's angular face and leggy frame feature prominently in this London Fog print push. But rather than imbue the brand with some personalit...More
Client: Milwaukee Police Brand: Milwaukee Police Agency: Cramer-Krasselt Description: The only sounds are the footsteps of a lone woman as she walks down the darkest dark alley you've ever seen. Surely something bad is going to happen....More
Client: FreeCreditReport.com Brand: FreeCreditReport.com Agency: The Martin Agency, Inc. Description: The FreeCreditReport.com musicians are back on air singing about their poor credit scores and all the woes that come with it. They made their TV debut...More
Client: Google, Inc. Brand: Google Agency: In-House Description: Billboards seem like an apt medium for Google's advertising. Consider: the black-on-white simplicity of this roadside salvo touting Google's...More July 2009
Client: Famous Footwear Brand: Famous Footwear Shoe Stores Agency: Campbell Mithun Promotion Description: A slinky blonde in a black dress and heels cannonballs into a swimming pool. A couple enjoys a pillow fight, feathers flying, on their front porch....More
Client: AT&T Mobility Brand: AT&T Wireless Agency: BBDO New York Description: The problem with most celebrity endorsements is that the ads they usually appear in rely too much on their presence alone to carry the commercial...More
Client: Dunkin' Brands, Inc. Brand: Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream Stores Agency: Cliff Freeman & Partners Description: Remember "Peanut Butter Jelly Time"? Miami-based DJ crew the Buckwheat Boyz is at it again, this time creating the equally annoying, yet disturbingly...More
Client: Freestyle Music Park Brand: Freestyle Music Park Agency: The Brandon Agency Description: One of advertising's stock figures -- the weak-kneed dad -- puts in an appearance in a campaign by The Brandon Agency for Freestyle Music Park, an...More
Client: KGB Brand: KGB Agency: The Brooklyn Brothers Description: It's difficult to say what The Brooklyn Brothers and KGB had in mind with this spot. Dave Kiefaber on AdFreak calls the commercial "arguably racist,"...More
Client: Keep Calif. Beautiful Brand: Keep Calif. Beautiful Agency: BBDO West San Francisco Description: Attractive young folks on a beach, singing a peppy song. Hey, if this formula worked for a whole genre of semi-hit movies, it should easily suffice as...More
Client: Tree.com Brand: LendingTree Agency: Mullen Description: Alone in a bedroom, a man is reflected in a mirror as if wearing a peculiar outfit and an equally peculiar mask. Under the circumstances, viewers will...More
Client: Home Box Office Brand: HBO Cable Channel Agency: Venables, Bell & Partners Description: Ads often make half-hearted gestures at being weird, but don't have the nerve to be truly weird. Let us tip our oddest-looking hats, then, to a...More
Client: Georgia Power Co. Brand: Georgia Power Co. Agency: The Richards Group, Inc. Description: You don't pay your electric bill each month so the utility company can hector you about energy consumption. Sure, companies in that sector need to...More
Client: J.C. Penney Co., Inc. Brand: JCPenney Department Stores Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide Description: JC Penney took some flak for being out of step with today's teens when it used music and themes from the 1985 film The Breakfast Club in ads last...More
Client: MIGHTY PRODUCTS Brand: Mighty Tape Agency: Media Enterprises Description: Some may find it crass for the folks at Media Enterprises to release the final spots featuring iconic pitchman Billy Mays. But I think my colleague...More
Client: Kia Motors America Brand: Kia Cars & Trucks Agency: davidandgoliath Description: To introduce the Forte compact sedan, Kia tries to position the car as "the first of its kind." And yet, the ad goes out of its way to explain all the...More
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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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
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