my favorite superbowl ads

Posted in advertising, branding, commercials

So apparently there was a football game on last night. Did anyone else see it? I was too busy watching the commercials to notice.

What I DID notice was there was definitely a lack of stellar ads this year. No more is it Bud vs Miller or Coke vs Pepsi. The majority of spots that I noticed were for the automobile industry and Doritos. Also, dogs replaced last year’s men in underwear. (If you recall last year just about every commercial had to do with guys in their boxers or briefs… this year it was all about man’s best friend. Doritos, Bud Light and Audi all used spot in their spots.)

The biggest disappointment I had was the lack of social media integration. No one invited me to “join in the conversation” on their Facebook page, or follow them on Twitter. The Ford Focus Rally was the closest thing during the pregame show… but really, no one engaged their audience outside of their 15-30 second spot. Shame, shame.

I thought the best ads came from Volkswagen and Bridgestone.

“The Force” by Volkswagen

“Black Beetle” by Volkswagen

“Carma” by Bridgestone

“Reply All” by Bridgestone

Most Controversial: Groupon

This caused a lot of chatter on Twitter last night. One group, @GlobalGiving tweeted this: “Didn’t love @Groupon‘s #superbowl ad? We have lots of ways you can help Tibet: http://bit.ly/dSFReg “. Ouch.

Most Awkward: “The Best Part” by Doritos

Poorest Choice for Spokesman: Brisk Tea & Chrysler

I understand that Eminem is from Detroit and all… but the image of Chrysler? Hmm, I dunno.

So what were your favorites. Which ones left you thinking or discussing?

new fav commercials

Posted in commercials, New Zealand, video

I don’t do this enough: show some really great commercials. I don’t know why, I mean, I majored in Advertising for cryin out loud. Plus, that’s really the only reason why I watch the Superbowl (and anything on ESPN for that matter).

Here’s a great one from Coke for the FIFA World Cup in 2010. (Leave a comment below with your thoughts on these)

An older one from Captain Morgan. Great execution:

Great concept from Heineken

The 2010 Emmy Nominees for Best Commercial all in one. I believe Old Spice took home the award… they should have anyway:

Another emotional envelope from Coke:

Probably one of the sexiest commercials I’ve seen:

I remember watching this one in college:

And of course… my next place of residency:

Ok, and one more for the Kiwis:

zappos… my new favorite campaign

Posted in business, feature

I first saw this ad, “5 Ways to Add Elegance to Dresses” on Saturday and I fell in love. (I’m guessing part of that has to do with my love for puppets… or in this case, “Zuppets.”) But also the use of witty humor.

Take a look:

And then there’s this one, “Different Direction.”

Apparently these are all real phone calls into Zappos. Here’s “Jesse.” BRILLIANT.

Zappos, Powered by Real People

These are great ads that use the power of their brand. They’re taking actual phone calls and using them to create quirky, witty scenes inside Zappos. It’s touching, humorous and is true to their brand. This has great legs… I hope to continue seeing them around.

embrace life commercial

Posted in feature, inspiration

What could have been a very boring and expected PSA about car safety turned out to be something quite beautiful. This is so simple, but has such a HUGE impact. A great example of less-is-more.

What are your thoughts? Does this work? Is it enough? Too much? Do you “get it” right away or does it take a few watches?