P&G London 2012 Olympic Games Film | Best Job
This heartfelt ad for Proctor & Gamble rolled out a few timely weeks before Mothers Day, receiving steady interest and heavy shares until grabbing the top spot on the viral video ads chart almost two weeks ago and holding on tighter than a goodbye hug. It currently has over 7 million views and is still receiving more than 600 shares a day. Talk about tent-pole. How many people skipped the card this year and sent their mom this ad instead?
The P & G products play second fiddle to the sound of your heartstrings as you watch dedicated, loving mothers around the world gently wake their children, help them get to school and practice, cheer them on, make them dinner and, of course, do some clean-up. The dishes and laundry are just part of the job. Rather than thinking about the product they use to scrub, we’re thinking of a mother’s kindness and our own gratitude. Proctor & Gamble sells them some soap, but these women create Olympic athletes.
Applaud goes to Weiden + Kennedy for creating one helluva an ad.
Radio Klassisk | Flash Mob in the Copenhagen Metro
They sound scary. That’s the funny part. If your grandma heard that you’d run into a “flash mob,” she’d ask if you were okay and offer to make you dinner. Then again, the concept of grandmas these days is changing faster than I can type so I could be wrong. Maybe she was part of a Thriller mob just last week.
But I digress. This is the one kind of mob that you’re actually jealous you missed. Who doesn’t hope for a group of strangers to press pause on their day and break the monotony with an unexpected choreographed dance number, curious social experiment or philharmonic performance of Griegs Peer Gynt on your train to work? The 2 million people sharing this ad for Denmark’s Radio Klassisk are no doubt saying to each other “How cool is this? I wish I’d been there! I hope some day I see a flash mob live!” They’re also subtly reminded of how beautiful and mood altering a classical piece can be through the reaction of the metro passengers and of themselves.
StopTheTraffik.org – Girls going wild in red light district
This PSA from StopTheTraffic.org was all about the surprise ending. Like a flashmob, there is an unexpected element from the beginning and the passerbys as drawn are into a dance number by the sexy red light district girls in the window. A heavy dubstep track plays from the shop as the girls pop, lock, shake and coordinate like they’re in a store selling Marquese Scott clones. Every one in the crowd (of mostly men) is smiling and in awe. The women in windows above act as though they’re holding the puppet strings of the dancers below and as the dance comes to an end, the crowd that has now filled the street claps and whistles.
Then the message: “Every year thousands of women are promised a dance career in Western Europe. Sadly, they end up here.” In other words: These girls had dreams, you jerks. Don’t encourage the nightmare. Stop the traffic.
Samuel Jackson iPhone 4S/Siri commercial (HD)
Siri is the most harassed woman in tech. She fetches you information while you drive or perform surgery or whatever it is you do and how do you repay her? By testing her patience with curse words or a ridiculous game of 20 questions while repeatedly proving how little she’s actually capable of. But who could blame you?
Apple is desperate to convince you that you love Siri. She’s like the little sister you never wanted! She’ll do all your chores! She does call you “Rock God“ after all …
So to follow-up the highly spoofed “Rock God” iPhone 4S ad, Apple predictably enlisted two of the most beloved celebrities in current pop culture, Zooey Deschanel (if you like that sort of thing) and Samuel L. motherf*$@in’ Jackson. The latter of which especially seems like a guaranteed win, but alas, Apple killed it. No, not that good kind of killed it. The other one. Yeah, like ruined.
What is this soft side of Samuel? Date night and fancy mushrooms? Both ads fall flat. Zooey is annoying. Did she really just ask Siri the weather while looking at the rain outside? And who wants a square Sam? Neither commercial portrays anything new about the Siri service. Instead, they make it look pretty ridiculous and unnecessary. Don’t get me wrong, Siri is a cool convenience, but if these ads are Apple’s way of showing how useful she can be, I’ll take the Google glasses any day.
Sauza Tequila – Make it with a Fireman
Make what with a fireman…? Margaritas? Oh. Yeah, that’s what we were hoping. Sauza made this one especially for the ladies and we’ve got to admit, it’s some extremely successful pandering.
You’ve got a burly, fireman with a kitten. He wants to rub your feet or go antiquing - whichever you prefer. He says he’ll help you “relive that summer in Paris.” He says kittens make everything better (and this one is especially cute and has a beret). He also happens to have a very simple, so simple you’re pretty sure you can remember it, mouthwatering recipe for margaritas. And he wants you to call him.
It would be over the top except that the whole thing is very tongue-in-cheek. Especially the bit about jeggings. He’s just the kind of man that doesn’t exist. And it’s just enough to make you want a drink. Bad. The ladies in the office would tell you, except they just went out for margarita fixins.
Roller Kingdom, Reno NV by Rhett & Link – Say NO to Crack, Say YES! to Roller Skating
Self-titled “Commercial Kings” Rhett & Link are back. Of course, they didn’t really go anywhere and have continues cracking us up on YouTube regularly, but they’ve returned to their marketing roots, once again making ads for obscure businesses. This video for a roller skating facility in Reno features the duo as thugs, backing up some geriatric drug dealers trying to lure kids to the dark side. Also deifnitely worth checking out is this one called “Black and white people furniture” Red House Furniture. Our favorite part is that the comedy duo are able to make these commercials pro-bono via MicroBilt and www.ilovelocalcommercials.com where anyone can nominate their favorite local business.