Creative: Best Spots - Visitor's View

Eric Silver Is Senior Vice President And Creative Director At Cliff Freeman And Partners In New York For adweek's Best spots of November, I was given a word count of 500. When I finished writing this article, I only had 450 words. So I needed a little "filler" up here. I want to quickly take this opportunity to congratulate my friend Roger Camp on two wonderful achievements. Recently, Roger accepted a job at (creative hot shop) Leagas Delaney in San Francisco. Also this past year, Roger shed 120 pounds, trimming down to his fighting weight of 275 pounds. Way to go, buddy. We knew you could do it. After watching the Best Spots reel, I concluded that the ads fell into five categories: I. Commercials benefiting from the basketball lockout. I liked the Nike spot in which Spike Lee is taunting Regina Miller, a very tall eighth-grade student (pictured, top). It's good to know Spike can be just as annoying at St. Ignatius as he can be at Madison Square Garden. I also thought Sprite's 1-800-TALL-MEN spot was pretty funny. Grant Hill and Tim Duncan have some free time, so they agree to prune trees, change light bulbs and retrieve cats from rooftops. II. Commercials that put you in the holiday mood. Game.com Pocket Pro promotes Resident Evil 2 by showing a man literally falling apart. I can't remember the last spot in which a man's eyeball plopped into a cup of coffee. Bravo. I also enjoyed the Diesel Jeans ad. During World War I, a man in the trenches is sent a pair of Diesel jeans from his mother. The annoying soldier tries them on, then asks his comrades what they think. One of the fed-up soldiers stands and tells him to shut up. But it's the last thing the disgruntled man says; he is promptly shot in the back. Finally, the Florida Tobacco Pilot Program uses a movie trailer to get our attention (pictured, below). I feel like we've seen trailers before as commercials, but this is a good one. It's so good, you're disappointed to learn that it's not an actual film. At the end, we learn the "forces of evil" are the tobacco companies, which are responsible for 3 million deaths a year. III. Commercials utilizing polar bears drinking a beverage from a bottle. In this category, I'd have to give the nod to the Coca-Cola polar-bear cub that swims from one iceberg to another in the hopes of receiving a bottle of Coke. IV. Commercials that left me a little confused, but I didn't want to say anything too negative because it's a good agency and one day I may want to work there. The Levi's "What's True" campaign: We listen to two friends talk about their tattoos. A girl discusses why she decided to move to New York City. A band member hooks up with two women. A gay guy's neighbors don't like his music. It may be all true but it's not terribly interesting. V. Commercials that I really don't like but hesitate mentioning because it seems like bad karma. But then, upon further reflection, it seems worth the risk. Any Old Navy commercial featuring that fashion woman with the really big glasses.

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Creative: Best Spots - Visitor's View

Eric Silver

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Eric Silver