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Seen and noted

Guest Judge: David T. Jones, CCO, Third Street, Chicago

 GUEST JUDGE /BEST AD OF THE WEEK   WORLDWIDE    November 15, 2021 15:12 (Edited: February 17, 2023 05:19)
BEST TV
Winner: Coca-Cola 'Real Magic'. Whenever Christmas time rolls around and I see the decorations start to line the stores, it always feels too early to me. Too early to be hearing the songs, too soon to have everything in red and green. But the one thing I love about the Holiday's arrival is the shared belief that we can all be kinder to one another.
This ad knew what it was doing and in a brisk moving 2 minutes and 33 seconds really moved me. Props to Coke for allowing an old, empty box to be the big branded moment.
It was a simple human collective experience that then built into a bit of an "only at the Holidays" fantasy experience. All to bring people together, which has always been Coke's thing. Great spot.

Runner Up: Zulu Alpha Kilo 'Awards Gone Wild'. This is such a funny video, well written, well acted, well edited. Insightful. Cutting. Hilarious.
The message is "Stop making ads that aren't real just for the awards". Agree! Here Here! Bravo!
But wait...
This is an ad by the agency, for the agency, so it itself isn't real, right?
And it is submitted here for... an award. So if it wins, it’d actually go against the very premise of the spot.
So... I'm conflicted. But it is damn funny.

BEST PRINT
Winner: Great Cause 'The Real Horror'. There is always a bit of horror finding garbage in the water or on the beach. "Oooh look - a cool seashell! Oh, wait, that’s a bottle cap." This print ad brings that to life in a simple, visually smart way.
It was tied to Halloween, which worked, but I don't think it needed to be.

Runner Up: Euphoria LGBT Inc 'He'. I have young kids and as they learn to read, write and spell, I enjoy seeing their excitement in seeing letter patterns, words inside words, or flipping out to learn that "RACECAR" is spelled the same way frontwards and backwards. Finding the pronoun "He" in Helen, as Helen is becoming Helen, is just lovely. I dig it and my daughters would too.

BEST OUTDOOR
Winner: HSBC 'Lifegiving Light'. This category is "Outdoor" but is populated with both Outdoor and Ambient. I think that is a little unfair to each category to be put together - sort of like the Golden Globe "Musical or Comedy" category. They are too different to be judged alongside one another.

I picked HSBC as my favorite because it was rooted in traditional outdoor - but by emitting a plant friendly blue light, it helped keep the area around it green. A smart and effective idea that truly embraced the outdoors in outdoor advertising.

Runner Up: iSEE 'Leave with PRIDE'. This work did my favorite thing that advertising can do - it flipped an argument on its head.
By using the language of ignorance against itself, it proved a brilliant point, often with truly heartbreaking reactions. I hope this campaign changed some minds in Vietnam.

BEST INTERACTIVE
Winner: Millionaires FC '1 Jersey, 2 Hearts'. This effort hit on so many different strata. It was awareness raising, fun raising, tech, event, experiential, digital, merch - you name it. All for a great cause. You usually can't go wrong with a famous athlete and a child. But I didn't know any of these athletes (not as up to speed on Columbian Soccer players) and I was inspired and impressed.

Runner Up: Amaro 'The Virtual Nodule'. Not easy to hack something and leave the hacked feeling grateful, but by interrupting our online shopping experience just a bit, this app will be saving some lives.

BEST RADIO
Winner: VW Polo 'Incomplete GPS'. This is good radio. Immediately grabbing, even confusing, with the cut-off voice, it quickly reveals a brilliantly simple idea - that your car is so fast, the GPS can't keep up. Great.

Runner Up: Belong 'A love song to the Internet'. Jokey songs in ads usually have to earn my admiration - and this one does with funny and ultimately surprising copy. But now I need to go look up "stuff that taste like blue" and singing goats.



https://www.bestadsontv.com/news/upload/David T Jones.jpg
This week's guest judge is David T. Jones, chief creative officer of Third Street, Chicago.

At Third Street, David has led his team to ADDY and Clio award-winning work for brands such as Learning Resources, Optimum Nutrition, SunFed Ranch and Cabot Wood Stain. His efforts have also resulted in numerous shiny lucite and metal offerings from The Art Director's Club, ADDYS, The Webbys. His work has been featured in Communication Arts, D&AD, The New York Times, and The Chicago Tribune.

Before founding Third Street, David served as a Creative Director for 15 years at Foote, Cone and Belding (FCB) in Chicago, most recently as its Executive Creative Director of Emerging Platforms. He has created advertising campaigns across all mediums for Coors, Kraft, Gatorade, Illinois Lottery, KFC, Taco Bell, and Discover Card.

David is also the doodler, writer, creator of "Ad Land", his advertising-centric cartoon that has been hailed as a "must read" and "screamingly funny" by both himself and some of advertising's biggest players. Lastly, David never writes a bio without mentioning his alarmingly cute twin daughters Eloise and Olivia, and his impossibly lovely wife, Dawn.


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