Another chance at making your holiday merry

Happy Holidays from the gang at Adland.

We've got some fun gifts to hand out this month. The very generous folks over at Communication Arts have given us some 2004 CA Ad Annuals to share with you. Read more!

Just post your response by December 19th to be entered for your chance to win! Winners will be drawn on the 20th.

The question:

What is your all time favorite ad or ad campaign?

If your favorite is in the archive, link it for all to see.

This is how you make a link:
[a href=""] I like this ad [/a]
Just switch the [ and ] with - if you goof, no worries, we'll make repairs.

Unfamiliar with CA? Here's a bit about them: Communication Arts serves up delicious and nutritious high gloss images of the creme de la creme in graphic design, advertising, photography, illustration and interactive multimedia, with in depth interviews and articles from the most creative minds of our time.

Anonymous Adgrunt's picture
Files must be less than 500 KB.
garbahnzo's picture

a href="http://www."] I have always loved the North Carolina ads because: A) They are gorgeous. B) They are clever . and C) They relate so much to real life. [/a]

Alec's picture

Tabasco "Mosquito". Hands down my favorite spot over the years. Simple idea, powerfully executed.

Tabasco - Mosquito

Dabitch's picture

I have already promised my eternal undying love to this Apple HAL - because it gives me goosebumps.

But back when I was a young ad-pup, the Guardian Points of view was the ad that made my heart beat faster.

andromeda's picture

The Guinness Dreamer ad haunts my dreams.

AnonymousCoward's picture

I'm sure there are fifty that I truly love, but I thought the "Oh, it's you Bob." ad campaign that Nissan ran a few years back was excellent. The concept was this guy "Bob" who drove a Nissan, and that the vehicle made you "special." Bob had his own lane at the tolls, his own lane on the highway, and when he gets pulled over by the highway patrol, the cop takes down his sunglasses and says "Oh, it's you Bob." and lets Bob go. It was just kooky and yet easy to remember.

troymcclure's picture

While it's pretty much impossible to choose a single ad or campaign, I've always admired an ad for Nikon from the early 1990's; I believe it was by Scali McCabe Sloves. It consisted of four black boxes, each with a reversed out line of text. Each "caption" described a famous photograph - for example, "A young boy salutes his father's coffin" for JFK's funeral. There was no body copy - just a headline that said "If you can picture it in your mind, it was taken by a Nikon." Utterly simple, totally brilliant - and far more compelling and truthful than any gimmicky website or marketing fad du jour.

chorizo's picture

Molson Canadian, The Rant.

I am Canadian. What more can i say? (other than the fact that i really am Canadian...)

runner up goes to Apple, Think Different.

Wow. not a computer in sight. But one of Kermit the frog. For a computer? How'd they do that?

AnonymousCoward's picture

From my first viewing of this spot it has always stayed with me. I'm talking about a Nike ad. The one showing all different types of athletes with various scars or physical deformities (i.e. - Ronnie Lott's midget pinkie, a surfer's sharkbite, etc.). The spot is all done in black and white and is scored by Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful". This was the moment when I realized advertising could be art.

Robblink's picture

Hands down. My favorite commercial of all time is Nike's Air Revolution ad with The Beatles - Revolution playing in the background. It's the ad that inspired me to go into advertising. Damn spot. Ruined my life!

AnonymousCoward's picture

Too many come to mind, of course. But two of my all-time fav print one-offs are the legendary "I never read the Economist" and Saatchi's "Pregnant Guy", from waaaay back. I really like Nike's Play campaign (Tag, Shade Running, etc.) for its insightful brilliance in bringing sports back to what it was all about at first

Robbotman's picture

The expensive Ridley scott extravaganza which is the Apple 1984 ad still is my all time favorite.

noahr's picture

The nike "revolution" commercial was the first time I understood the power of advertising. It really convinced me that whatever Nike was selling, it was something very special. I think I couldn't distinguish it at the time from a movie or a program, because it had no pitchman, no setup, no voiceover, as I recall it didn't even explain the product. It was just very very iconic.

Also the very first Infitini spots, with the clouds and the steam and the rambling V.O. and no shots of the car. Made it feel important.

Then I didn't like anything for 18 years or so, until this came about: The surfer.

Black and white, "ugly" talent, otherwordly location, unplaceable V.O., pounding leftfield music, and THEN perfectly integrated dream stallions?! Come on! It's too much. It's just too much. Still makes my heart pound. And it even manages to include a product benefit!

Not too many people have mentioned print. this ad made me cream my jeans when I saw it:

Head and shoulders (not sure if that link'll work.)

And I have a soft spot for this guy: ketchup.

Structurally very interesting and great photography. And good writing.

suture's picture

The art direction in the iPod spots distills the product to its very essence and with all the spoofs its had, it will become a classic.

deeped's picture

Think small of DDB and VW. Why? Because it made me understand what copywriting really is about.

Dabitch's picture

That head and shoulders ad rox my sox. Clever.

skip's picture

I was thinking VW too, but Arnold around the turn of the century.

My top 3 are

  1. Synchronicity
  2. Bubble
  3. Pink Moon

It's the ultimate in copywriting, to say so much without saying a single word.

James_Trickery's picture

(I'm not competing. I'm just making more links. cheers.)

1. VW / Volkswagen Jetta - Synchronicity - Jung at Heart
2. Volkswagen Beetle Convertible - Bubble (post-teaser VAR)
3. VW Pink Moon

Pink moon is really nice.

skip's picture

Thanks for that - I realized after I posted the link for Synchronicity was for the music

Andreas-Udd's picture

Since noahr already mentioned Guinness Surfer, someone has to mention EB Pilsner Loafer, perhaps the best spoof in recent years. It made me laugh.

slydecix's picture

Sheet Metal and People for Saturn give me chills every time I see them. So does VW Squares. Also, Peugeot - Sculptor is hilarious! Campaign-wise, I'd have to say it's CP+B's work for MINI .

Hmm, I just realized that all the ads I listed are car ads... why is that?

cosmonaut's picture

3 Top 3

FoxSports, Be aware of things made in oktober
Brandt, She want a Brandt
PS2, Mountain

Nike, Excuses
PS2, rebirth
Nissan, Wierd animals discovered

Addidas: Rugby campaign
Guiness, Whats on your mind?
Harvey Nichols, Summer sale

AnonymousCoward's picture

My favs by medium and/or category. Sorry, only one campaign there. Why is it single pieces tend to hit so many creatives harder?

TV: The

caffeinegoddess's picture

No sorry needed...we're looking for best ad or campaign...just for that reason ;)

AnonymousCoward's picture

My favorite ad campaign is adidas (impossible is nothing).

Adland is supported by your donations alone. You can help us out by donating via Liberapay, the Paypal button here

or by using our amazon affiliate links to buy yourself an ad book or something else nice.