Bestads Top 6 of the Week – reviewed by Ben Nott, ECD, World Wide Mind, Los Angeles
Best ad. I watched each one, then went back and read the contextual notes and watched each again. The clear winner is Johnnie Walker by BBH London and Blink. While it’s usually easier to create a good ad with the powerful subject matter provided by charities and orgs, when comparing ad to ad, this one still felt strongest.
The idea is a good extension of the well-known campaign line, Keep Walking, resonating on many levels. The personal real facts of Herreman’s life, his amazing dedication and achievements, make for a more powerfully felt message than the usual ad entertainment tap dance.
Don’t know if the commercial needed the outer body experience moment. Nicely directed with a balance of gritty realism and graphic appeal.
The Dylan music track layers some nice lyrical touches and mood too.
“When your reality changes, your dreams don’t have to” is a smart line. One can certainly appreciate that after responsibly enjoying a few Johnnie Walkers.
What is also interesting is the combining of what could have been a charity ad script, except brought to you by a major brand, combining their main campaign message. Hats off to a brave client. We need more of them please. I trust that the Johnnie Walker Corp supports disabled people and Marc Herreman.
Runner Up? Each of the other ads have their own individual qualities, but none close to the Johnnie Walker spot, so we’ll keep them at their even placing of finalists for the week.
Such a mixed bag of entries. All interesting. I love print. A distillation of the idea which can often then work in any media. Of course, the print ad from my Droga5 family I think is pretty cool : ) Hopefully everyone likes it and it’s a good reminder to ad folks and beyond to loosen up, get naked for work and have fun. Hang on, I think there’s one other profession that already does that. Ads for your own agency are always hard to do. This one cleverly does it for the whole ad industry. And no client, so I guess that’s why the logo is pretty much invisible.
I like the return to well written, long copy and classic old school ad styling, that in content recognizes the ongoing pursuit of creativity in any media. So I’m putting the Droga5 ad as my biased best print ad.
Anyway, pressing the reset button I have another best print ad as well: The New Straights Times newspaper from McCann Erickson, Malaysia. Visually quick and smart. Fun to look at more than once. Nice tag line, offering the deeper perspective that is lost in much re, re, re, reported / digitally forwarded, news these days. Go Wikileaks!
I’m sure the Jalna Yoghourt ad from In Our Time agency and the TAC, Grey Melbourne topical ads got a lot of laughs and attention. The Westpac ad from Lavender is very well designed, but could maybe have hit harder with the product benefit it offers buried in the copy.
But the ad that I give runner up to is the Renault ZE: Old Newspapers from Publicis Conseil in Paris. It’s a bit hard to see, even when zooming in. I think the art direction of the car ad could have been a bit more modern and in keeping with the timely message, but it’s a powerful idea and use of the medium. It’s one I think readers may remember more than an easy, quick joke.
My best ad selection is Waitakere City Council by Ogilvy Auckland. Is it interactive media or outdoor or both? Who cares, it’s an effective idea in many ways. If that campaign has stopped a few crazy drivers and saved even one life… then that’s great. And to think some people belittle our industry!
Runner up is a close race between Publicis Mojo in Auckland, for their well placed City Mission poster and Cooch Creative in Perth for its Cancer Council poster. Both very cool. But you have to admit, it must be pretty hard to get an engaging dog food ad made for big international brand.
If the poster for Pedigree by Colenso BBDO in Auckland, is one where you are sitting waiting for a bus or train and it gives you time to read it… then I say it’s this week’s runner up. The global tag line (We’re for Dogs) was written by my previous exec creative director Guru, Lee Clow. Lee is a true lover of dogs who allows his staff to bring their cat hunters to work every day. Sure, live and breathe the product, but don’t always eat it.
The one that felt most “interactive” for me was for Canal+ by BETC Euro RSGC, Paris. An engaging brand centric story that is well shot and I’m sure entices many to watch the TV show. Technically and artistically well made. Hats off.
The Magnum entry from Lowe Brindfors in Sweden has an interesting description, but wouldn’t open for me here in the USA. The auto message being: This site cannot be distributed in the United States due to contract restrictions. Is this for real or am I about to be tricked, cookie tracked, re targeted, facetwittered and then my cell phone re digitized into a free Magnum ice cream? I hope so. I think technology has made advertising much more exciting. More toys for everyone.
Runners up for interactive were between Saab from Lowe Brindfors / Acne Film in Sweden and Adobe from Goodby, Silverstein and partners in San Fran. The ADMD (Adobe Museum Of Digital Media) web site is a very interesting concept and the art content pretty cool. But as far as a cohesive interactive campaign experience, with a video and web site interaction that experientially links through to the brand message, I think the Saab entry slips ahead to take runner up honors.
Thanks for reading. Good luck with all your creativity.
Benjamind.
5 Comments
For the love of god, teach him how to spell “Johnnie Walker”.
Ben, it’s out-of-body.
Unless this is a sneaky pre-launch for Jhonnie Blampied whiskey, 2:37.
That’s an ad for booze?? Seriously?? Holy shit. I drink as much as the next guy, maybe more — but how many wheelchair cases has booze created? This is barking a powerful emotive message entirely up the wrong tree. This is about the wrongest thing I’ve seen all year. Imagine seeing this ad from a wheelchair because you hit a tree, pissed. Or imagine seeing this as a mother of a son who hit another car pissed. Holy shit. Best ad of the week, huh? Our industry keeps advertising to the world that it is fucked. Beautifully made, though.
Very astute, 8:05. No, really. In an attempt to find a really really really clever new twist to ‘Keep walking’, this ad excels in all the wrong areas.