Debate runs rampant on the number of ads the average Australian sees every day, it could be 500 or it could be 5000. Whatever the number it’s fair to say that most of us either ignore them or don’t absorb anything at all.
But every now and then an ad comes along that makes us pay attention, it’s message is profound, it’s story hilarious or it’s campaign honourable.
Here is a selection of some of the best ads from the last year.
Daughter Water
Fighting for equal pay in the workplace, The Workplace Gender Equality Alliance (TWGEA) teamed with DDB Sydney to create the inyourhands campaign and the Daughter Water spot.
After learning of an international study that shows when a CEO has a daughter the pay gap between men and women shrinks TWGEA knew they had to do something.
The campaign culminated with 3000 bottles of Daughter Water being sent to Australian CEO’s who’s companies had not completed an analysis of pay within their organisation.
Here is what they came up with.
Introducing Daughter Water from Sergeant Major on Vimeo.
First Kiss
The First Kiss went viral in March of 2014. It’s creeping up on 100 million views, a remarkably high number of views for any video online let alone an ad.
The video features a group of strangers, (all models, hence the good looks) kissing for the first time. A simple idea that resulted in a beautiful ad thats both incredibly human and profoundly intriguing.
Love from Range Rover
Four best friends from New Zealand had to sell their beloved 1957 Series One Land Rover. Adult life had taken over and the responsibilities of work and family meant they could no longer spend time and money on the maintenance of this old war horse.
Land Rover heard about this launched a covert mission to give the friends the best Valentines present ever.
The Game Before the Game
One of the best sport ads of the year wasn’t created by the usual suspects Nike and Adidas but by audio giant Beats by Dre. Director Nabil Elderkin in conjunction with R/GA London and Los Angeles are the masterminds behind the 5 minute story.
The Game Before the Game features Brazilian Football phenomenon Neymar Jr. alongside some of the best athletes in the sport.
An awesome backing track by Jamie N Commons & The X Ambassadors provides the backdrop for this world cup pump up ad.
I Will What I Want
“You have the wrong body for ballet”.
Thanks to the person that sent this in a letter to a 13 year old Misty Copeland. Without your harsh words we might not have one of the most gifted dances of our age.
I Will What I Want is a short ad about the letter Misty received as a young girl. The letter attempts to discourage her from her Ballet dreams. It did not work.
Director Johnny Green and Reset worked with Droga5 New York to create this short yet incredibly powerful piece. Keeping it simple the ad focuses on the athletic form of Copeland and uses the voiceover to send a powerful message.
The Epic Split feat. Jean-Claude Van Damme
An actor arguably past his prime and a truck company about as sexy as Tony Abbot. This ad which features an out of date song and on paper sounds very tacky isn’t. A winning combination between Volvo and Forsman & Bodenfors this ad needs no comprehensive description, it does the talking itself! Have a look and a laugh.
Awkward Family Viewing
During our teen years we all dreaded the moment a sex scene came on the TV screen while mum and dad were in the room. If you had parents like ours they revelled in our awkward blushing expressions and added commentary that did the opposite of relieving the tension in the room.
HBO GO in conjunction with SS+K captured that coming of age moment perfectly in this advert.
Have a gander and remember what it was like to be an awkward teenager.
HBO GO – Awkward Family Viewing – Your Choice from SS+K on Vimeo.