The global ads we’ve picked this year range from the romantic to the bizarre and everything in between. There's no rhyme or reason to any of it – we just fell in love with these ads.
The Global Top Ten is presented by Spotify.
Heinz ‘Geoff’ by Y&R NZ
Heinz Geoff is an animated short movie that tells a product message about different size cans of beans. Hardly inspirational subject matter but the team at Y&R New Zealand managed to craft a love story that resonates and warms the heart. Whether you like the schmaltzy storyline or not, the animation is impeccable, Geoff is a lovely little character who spends his days toiling away innovating cans of beans for everyone. He eventually finds love beyond beans - in the department of spaghetti. It’s an advertising romance up there with the Nescafe Gold Blend couple and Rhonda and Ketut. Sort of.
Jose Cuervo ‘Last Days’ by CP&B LA
We can’t think of a better way to see in the end of the world than in a downtown bar, drinking tequila and dancing to the sound of Elvis on the jukebox as the world falls apart around us. Jose knows tomorrow is overrated but this beautiful ad isn’t. It brings together a cracking soundtrack, great moves, incredible story arc and beautiful craft. If this 90-second ad was a 90-minute movie, we’d watch it. We raise a glass to Jose Cuervo.
PlayStation ‘Anti-gravity cat’ by Hakuhodo
We have to confess we don’t really understand this totally bizarre Japanese PlayStation ad, but it doesn’t make it any less incredible. The ad, for the launch of the game Gravity Rush 2, features a kitten that can control gravity to tie in with the game’s character Kat. None of this makes sense from the ad if you a) don’t speak Japanese and b) aren’t familiar with the game already, but it’s five minutes well spent as the kitten wreaks havoc on two Japanese girls sharing an apartment. Things are upside down, on fire and totally Japanese.
Samsung’s ‘Ostrich’ by Leo Burnett Chicago
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it’s a flying ostrich! Leo Burnett’s ad for Samsung starred an ostrich that believed it could fly thanks to the brand’s virtual reality technology. The Do What You Can’t campaign tapped into the basic human urge to push beyond what is normal and demonstrate the company’s commitment to helping people break boundaries. AdNews would like to see the ad recreated with an ibis, if there are any takers for next year…
Diesel ‘Go with the Flaw’ by Publicis Italia
Often advertising pursues the idea of perfection, but in a bold stance Publicis Italia embraced flaws in a short-film-style ad for Diesel. Complete with sweaty bodies, roughed-up cars, and poorly cut film, the spot shows a menagerie of weird human beauty. And the person Scotch-taping the scenes together has a surprisingly flaw of his own – he’s half-blind. The ad’s staggering lack of glamour ironically gives it some.
Burger King ‘Google Home of the Whopper’ by David Miami
In a move that was nothing short of outstanding (so much so it scooped the Cannes Lions Grand Prix in Direct) Burger King in the US released a 15-second TV ad in April which it said was barely enough time to explain the Whopper burger. So instead, a Burger King employee asked Google to do the explaining for him using the voice prompt: “OK Google, what is the Whopper Burger?”, after which the ad abruptly ends. Low and behold, Google Home devices across the US were triggered by the ad and replied with information from the fast food brand’s Wikipedia page. A genius hack.
Audi ‘Daughter’ by Venables Bell & Partners
Progress and equal pay for women was top of Audi’s priorities in its emotive Super Bowl ad in February. Audi joined the ranks of brands taking on political topics - tapping into gender equality with its ad on progress. Is a grandma worth less than grandpa? Will a daughter’s education and intelligence mean she is automatically valued less than every man she meets? Not if Audi has anything to do with it. It showed it was pushing its commitment to equal pay for equal work with the emotive ad by talking about what a father can tell his daughter about the future.
New York Times ‘The Truth is Hard’ by Droga5 New York
The New York Times’ February brand campaign from Droga5, which was later slammed by US President Donald Trump, included a huge billboard, as well as local and national TV ads, digital, social media and print advertising, focusing on the importance of the truth, and independent journalists’ role in getting to it. The TV spot was the first ad the newspaper had ever aired during the Oscars and just three days after the ads rolled out, Trump himself took to Twitter to pan it – generating more talk about the minimalist spots. While the tweet was instantly liked nearly 70,000 times and re-tweeted 15,000, not everyone agreed with Trump and many were quick to hop to the newspaper’s defence.
EA Sports ‘El Tornado’ by Adam&Eve/DDB
EA Sports new spot to promote FIFA 18 would receive the ‘when art imitates life’ award, except the art has never been attempted in real life. This clever spot invented a new football trick used in the video game by Real Madrid star player Cristiano Ronaldo. The ad then imitates the media hype and social hysteria such an awesome move would garner in real life, a type of reverse engineering of football trickery. The move, called ‘El Tornado’, is eventually executed by the real Ronaldo with aplomb. AdNews gave it a crack and lost a football before giving up. There’s cameos from Atletico Madrid’s star striker Antoine Griezman, Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli, and even the NBA’s James Harden comes up with his own spin on it. Nice one.
Nike ‘Equality’ by Wieden+Kennedy
Nike has been doing impressive work that makes a strong statement about social issues. The standout, in our opinion, is Equality. The black and white film features Alicia Keys on vocals and is narrated by actor Michael B. Jordan, who says: “If we can be equals here, we can be equals everywhere”. The moving and beautifully shot spot assembles basketball stars LeBron James and Kevin Durant, tennis great Serena Williams, US track queen Dalilah Muhammad and more to deliver a powerful message that rails against racial division. The athletes paint their own white lines – symbolising that the only limits to greatness are the ones you define yourself.
Check out our top favourite Australian ads here
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