Following a request on last month’s blog post asking for greater focus on non-TV creative and interactive ads we’ve tried to expand out this month’s ad list. Showcasing interactive ads after they’ve run is difficult as the interactivity has normally been taken away but we’re going to do our best for a few months. Likewise the majority of video ads run across both TV and Video (99% for Vindico in the UK and 97% in the US) so it can be difficult to find video only executions, which have also done enough to make the top 5! Again, we’ll try and make sure that we represent these ads as best we can. Feel free to respond and recommend ads to us if you like! Read more »

British Airways ‘Olympics’ by BBH

With the Olympics drawing ever closer, British Airways has launched a controversial new television advert, encouraging Britons to stay at home this summer. The advert shows a Boeing 777 taxiing from Heathrow through the streets of London, past all the tourist hotspots, to the Olympic stadium in east London. The advert ends with the slogan “Don’t fly, support Team GB” – which all the other airlines are no doubt delighted about! Read more »

The return of Harvey the Thinkbox dog, it’s not quite as winning as the first time we saw him but his reminder of the great times he had with Rabbit still carries the message that nothing is quite as evocative as TV advertising in all its forms. Something we agree with at VINDICO as we see a great response to innovative VOD advertising. Read more »

A great example here of how how effective video is at telling stories, we still recognise the importance of traditional media, especially when it comes to a child’s education. That’s why we like this ad from Reading is Fundamental in the US, highlighting the importance of the written word. Yes it’s a bit twee, but the idea of getting famous characters from books into modern settings to get kids interested in reading is a good one.

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Trying to create an ad as irreverent, funny and memorable as the Old Spice “man your man could smell like” is a gargantuan task that many have tried to achieve, and almost universally failed to do.

However, DollarShaveClub.com is within a whisker of being just as good. From a migrant worker to a bear, this ad is better than good. In fact, we’d go so far as to say it’s “F***ing Great”. Read more »

A lot of fan-fair around The Guardian’s open journalism campaign, Three Little Pigs – but did it live up to the hype? There was a comment on here last week that many of the ads we chose for January’s highlights didn’t have concept. The sort of interaction we’re looking for. However, you couldn’t accuse this of not having a concept – surely? Very interesting and right out of the BBH playbook.

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First up from January is Volkswagen’s Super Bowl teaser campaign, The Dog Chorus. No wonder the Empire has gone to the dogs if this is all Darth Vader can muster to strike fear into the hearts of the rebels.

An amazing idea executed beautifully. Now don’t get me wrong, I can see in the Twittersphere that ‘Star Wars’ themed ads are hitting overload – but this a nice follow-up to VW’s excellent ‘Dark Side’ video last year. Read more »

As one year starts to morph into another, its time for that perennial favourite – the trend predictions! Now, firstly predictions are a dark art as we all know and secondly, just like Rome, trends aren’t going to pop up overnight, they already exist – I am merely predicting which ones I think will come nicely onto the boil in the next 12 months… Read more »