Best Spots of May

NEW YORK The Best Spots of May, from Mountain Dew's rabid ferret to Old Spice's Bruce Campbell, introduced some unusual characters and recast familiar ones in new roles with style and flair.Diet Mountain Dew stresses how surprising its flavorful drink is with another dramatized, unusual "factoid": Ferrets attack more humans than grizzly bears. Done in an over-the-top send-up of Friday the 13th-style horror flicks, it stars a chainsaw-wielding ferret who chases a screaming couple through the woods. As he gets closer to his victims, a close-up reveals he's wearing a hockey mask. His face gear only heightens the ridiculousness of the moment."You think that's surprising?" asks an observer. "Get this. Diet Mountain Dew has all the intensity of regular Dew..." He's interrupted by a scream and we see the ferret and his chainsaw closing in on the girl, cutting her leg off at the knee. "...with none of the calories," the man continues in a whisper. "How Dew does diet" informs the copy in the final shot. Um, OK.An Absolut spot also features violent attacks, but its most brutal scene involves not ferrets, but feathers. The spot opens with hordes of civilians facing policemen in riot gear. (Why, we never know.) The tension mounts. Suddenly, a lone pillow flies overhead and hits a policeman's shield. Civil unrest boils over and everyone on both sides now joins in the pillow fight. Yes, pillow fight. If only all human conflicts could be handled with such childhood glee. And boy do the feathers fly—out of windows, airplanes, everywhere, cascading into the streets until finally it seems the entire city's population has joined in the play. "In an Absolut world ..." reads the spot's copy, with the rest of the phrase finished by an image of the iconic vodka bottle.The sentimental vote this month went to JCPenny, for its Mother's Day spot. It's one of those commercials that may have been overlooked had it not been for its music, an acoustic version of Yaz's "Only You," which, with the early '80s synthesizers removed, becomes a gentle ode to the love of a mother. The spot features a mother and daughter through the years. They walk down the street, the daughter at first a little girl, then a teen, a bride and finally a mother herself, with the now-grandmother holding both her daughter's and granddaughter's hands. It's sweet, well executed and one of the better Mother's Days ads I've seen.Another '80s remake drives one of the funniest spots of the month, an Old Spice ad starring Bruce Campbell as a piano-playing playboy. As he swings to the Duran Duran hit "Hungry Like the Wolf," the women filling his living room crowd around him; one even climbs up on the piano on all fours in an homage to the band's racy music video for the song. Campbell's rendition is so satisfying it inspires a sultry "Ahoy!" from one of his fans. It is a great performance and a great way to update the dusty image of the Old Spice brand.

Brand Marketing

Best Spots of May

Eleftheria Parpis

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Eleftheria Parpis