# The Best Ad in History

An editorial selection, not an objective ranking. Films remain on their original or archival hosts. Small preview images identify the works discussed. Print previews preserve the original layout; where no image is available, the card is explicitly labelled as a type excerpt.

## Honda: Cog (2003)

Wieden+Kennedy London; directed by Antoine Bardou-Jacquet

https://wklondon.com/work/cog/

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0WCJYdfl4c

Parts from a Honda Accord set off a two-minute chain reaction. Wieden+Kennedy made the film in 2003. Each piece has to arrive in the right place for the next one to move. By the time the car appears, you have already spent two minutes watching how carefully it fits together.

## Cadbury: Gorilla (2007)

Fallon; directed by Juan Cabral

https://www.dandad.org/insights/awards/cadbury-gorilla-case-study-insights

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wlcp0aCjo0o

A gorilla waits for a drum fill. That is almost the entire proposal. Cadbury’s film treats the pleasure of anticipation as something worth sharing before it shows you the chocolate. Garon Michael performed inside the gorilla suit. Somebody had to take this very silly idea very seriously.

## John West: Bear (2000)

BBH; directed by Daniel Kleinman

https://www.hatads.org.uk/catalogue/record/a9e60b8e-0e93-45e0-b7f8-b8b75bfc5e10

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP92j-uEnps

The calm narration and river scenery establish one kind of film. Then a fisherman gets involved. The History of Advertising Trust credits BBH and records the spot at just 30 seconds. An exceptionally economical disagreement over lunch.

## Old Spice: The Man Your Man Could Smell Like (2010)

Wieden+Kennedy; directed by Tom Kuntz

https://www.wk.com/work/old-spice-smell-like-a-man-man/

Viewing copy: https://videos.ctfassets.net/ckso4uqg4vio/2URqI7msuQikeqmOC2s8Y2/7935dfabec1f6e0062f4e26347319355/old-spice-smell-like-me.mp4

Isaiah Mustafa keeps talking while the bathroom gives way to increasingly unlikely surroundings. Wieden+Kennedy followed the commercial with personalised video replies to people online. The character was good enough to carry a conversation, not just a script.

## Sony: Balls (2005)

Fallon; directed by Nicolai Fuglsig

https://www.dandad.org/insights/awards/sony-balls-case-study-insights

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-JVbvtjDus

Hundreds of thousands of coloured balls bounced down San Francisco streets to advertise Sony’s Bravia televisions. Fallon and director Nicolai Fuglsig made the film in 2005. The little collisions are as enjoyable as the enormous view. A colour demonstration that is worth seeing without buying the television.

## Volvo Trucks: The Epic Split (2013)

Forsman & Bodenfors; directed by Andreas Nilsson

https://news.cision.com/volvo-trucks/r/jean-claude-van-damme-and-volvo-trucks-perform-world-first-stunt,c9498091

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7FIvfx5J10

The split demonstrates the precision of Volvo Dynamic Steering, with two trucks reversing beneath Van Damme. Volvo describes a closed-off airfield shoot in Spain. A real product capability becomes a sight that hardly needs a technical explanation. Please leave reproducing it to a professional stunt crew.

## IKEA: Bookbook (2014)

BBH Singapore

https://www.germcsy.com/bookbook-1

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOXQo7nURs0

BBH Singapore introduced IKEA’s 2015 printed catalogue as though it were a new piece of technology. Paper suddenly had features. The joke is affectionate enough to work on people who love technology launches, and accurate enough to work on people who love books.

## Pepsi: Vending Machine (2001)

A small boy; a very pointed purchase

https://www.tastingtable.com/2202830/2000s-pepsi-ad-snub-coca-cola/

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWOG6PTs75s

A boy buys two Coca-Colas before reaching for a Pepsi. The rival product becomes a prop in the demonstration. You can understand the argument with the sound off, and without either brand having to explain who the other one is.

## Pepsi: Diner (1995)

BBDO New York

https://www.warc.com/en/campaigns/pepsi%3A-film---%27diner%27-%28us%29-5fde0acc48824d1883f7808675dbea05

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUDkwapnTZ4

A Coke driver and a Pepsi driver meet at a diner. Their employers’ rivalry becomes a tiny story about hospitality, curiosity and the limits of sharing. This is the 1995 film, not the later Pepsi Max and Coke Zero reprise.

## Pepsi: Cindy Crawford (1992)

BBDO

https://models.com/work/various-campaigns-pepsi-1992-commercial-with-cindy-crawford

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R217aY_WfCQ

Cindy Crawford arrives at a roadside stop. Two onlookers appear to be having one conversation, and the film lets that assumption do its work. The ad was introducing a redesigned Pepsi can. Packaging gets the last word.

## Coca-Cola: Mean Joe Greene (1979)

McCann-Erickson

https://www.coca-colacompany.com/about-us/history/cokes-enduring-legacy-of-inclusive-advertising

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xffOCZYX6F8

A tired football player and a young fan meet in a stadium tunnel. The famous exchange is small enough to feel personal. First aired in 1979, the spot returned for the 1980 Super Bowl. Coca-Cola becomes the thing somebody offers, rather than the thing somebody tells you to buy.

## Coca-Cola: Hilltop (1971)

McCann-Erickson; art direction by Harvey Gabor

https://www.coca-colacompany.com/about-us/history/id-like-to-buy-the-world-a-coke

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_1BC4E4r04

The commercial gathered singers on an Italian hillside. Its song later became a hit with the product references removed. An unusually literal case of an advertisement giving people something they wanted independently of the bottle. Coke’s own history tells the story of the shoot.

## Coca-Cola: Happiness Factory (2006)

Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam; Psyop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx-zPheFnHo

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx-zPheFnHo

Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam and Psyop invented a world inside a Coke vending machine. Creatures with very specific jobs turn the wait for a bottle into a miniature expedition. Most of this factory is unnecessary. That is a large part of the pleasure.

## Pepsi: Better With Pepsi (2021)

alma

https://www.commarts.com/exhibit/pepsi-better-with-pepsi-campaign

Preview: https://image0.commarts.com/images1/1/4/4/1/1/1144125_102_600_LTE1OTA0OTExNzUyMDIzNjMzNzg5_f.jpg

Folded fast-food wrappers reveal the shapes and colours of the Pepsi globe. The campaign found a way into the visual language of restaurants associated with its rival. You do not have to accept the taste claim to appreciate the audacity of the art direction.

## Pepsi: Halloween (2013)

Buzz in a Box, Belgium

https://exame.com/marketing/coca-cola-responde-pepsi-em-anuncio-nao-oficial/

Preview: https://classic.exame.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/size_960_16_9_coke3.jpg

Pepsi dressed its can in a Coca-Cola cape for Halloween. A widely shared reply recast that costume as a superhero outfit. The important detail: the reply was unofficial, not a verified Coca-Cola campaign. A change of caption can reverse an image without changing the image at all.

## Mercedes-Benz: Chicken (2013)

Jung von Matt/Neckar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLwML2PagbY

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLwML2PagbY

A chicken’s head stays surprisingly steady while its body moves. Mercedes used that sight to explain the feeling of its Magic Body Control suspension. Watch this one before Jaguar’s reply. The linked Mercedes upload now notes a refreshed soundtrack; the campaign itself dates to 2013.

## Jaguar: Jaguar vs. Chicken (2013)

Spark44 / Mindshare Entertainment

https://media.jlr.com/archive-jaguar/en-us/blog/2013/jaguar-vs-chicken

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3p8KwRD6rw

Jaguar’s own newsroom explicitly introduced this as a response to Mercedes’ film. The joke relies on your remembering the previous ad, then takes the demonstration somewhere else. A genuine brand-to-brand reply, unlike the unofficial Coke caption elsewhere in this collection.

## Wendy’s: Where’s the Beef? (1984)

Dancer Fitzgerald Sample; directed by Joe Sedelmaier

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where%27s_the_beef

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riH5EsGcmTw

Clara Peller inspects the competition’s priorities. The line escaped the commercial and became shorthand for asking whether a grand claim contained any substance. The linked archive includes several spots from the campaign. Even the follow-ups know that Peller is the main event.

## Volkswagen: Think Small (1959)

DDB; Helmut Krone and Julian Koenig

https://www.volkswagen-group.com/en/volkswagen-chronicle-17351/1950-to-1960-internationalisation-and-mass-production-in-the-era-of-germanys-economic-miracle-17356

Preview: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/2b/Think_Small.jpg/250px-Think_Small.jpg

Volkswagen’s own history dates the campaign to 1959. DDB gave the Beetle a small place on a mostly empty page while American car advertising was often selling size. The layout makes the argument before the copy begins. The preview preserves that layout; Volkswagen’s historical record supplies the context.

## Volkswagen: Lemon (1960)

DDB

https://www.volkswagen-group.com/en/volkswagen-chronicle-17351/1950-to-1960-internationalisation-and-mass-production-in-the-era-of-germanys-economic-miracle-17356

Preview: https://uploads.vw-mms.de/system/production/images/cws/078/559/images/dcfbc126d64e058d45d402bb49bdc6317ad0d592/B2023CW01920_web_466.jpg?1686920270

DDB’s 1960 headline calls the pictured Volkswagen a lemon. Read on and it becomes a story about a car rejected by quality control. The apparent insult gets you to read the explanation, and the explanation asks you to trust the inspection. Quite a lot to do with one word.

## Avis: We Try Harder (1960s)

DDB; copy by Paula Green

https://www.avis.ca/en/about-avis/company-information/historical-chronology

Avis turned being the smaller competitor into a reason to expect effort. Histories differ on whether to date the launch to 1962 or 1963; Avis’s own chronology says 1963. The useful idea needs no disputed statistic: admit the obvious, then explain what you do about it.

## KFC: FCK (2018)

Mother London

https://www.itsnicethat.com/news/mother-london-kfc-advert-apology-230218

Preview: https://m.itsnicethat.com/original_images/5a8fefa97fa44c36a5000b52.jpg?width=480

During KFC’s UK chicken shortage, Mother rearranged the letters on the bucket and ran an apology in newspapers. The joke did not replace the apology. It made room for a direct admission of what had gone wrong, and thanks to the people dealing with it.

## Heinz: Pass the Heinz (2017)

DAVID; originally imagined for Mad Men

https://clios.com/winners-gallery/details?id=61751

Preview: https://resized-media.entries.clios.com/EMS_Legacy/entry_attachments/image/37/21194/passtheheinz-branded_content-medium.jpg.webp

A campaign proposed inside Mad Men became a real Heinz campaign in 2017. Fries, steak and a burger appeared without the ketchup. Heinz even credited the fictional agency alongside DAVID. An empty space can be a very clear product photograph.

## Volkswagen: The Force (2011)

Deutsch; directed by Lance Acord

https://www.ryanmclaughlin.work/volkswagen-the-force/

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdZMypElBpo

A child dressed as Darth Vader tries to move the world. The car’s remote-start feature supplies the story’s crucial moment. The 60-second film appeared online before the Super Bowl, where a shorter version ran. Its pleasure is in the performance, not in a complicated premise.

## Apple: 1984 (1984)

Chiat/Day; directed by Ridley Scott

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_%28advertisement%29

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8

Ridley Scott directed Chiat/Day’s Macintosh launch film, borrowing the imagery of Orwell’s novel. There is almost no computer to look at. And despite the familiar story that it aired only once, its broadcast history includes a local showing in December 1983, before the 1984 Super Bowl.

## Apple: Think Different (1997)

TBWA/Chiat/Day; narrated by Richard Dreyfuss

https://book.stevejobsarchive.com/

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqtvBn1i35k

The two narrations: https://fortune.com/2011/10/06/video-steve-jobs-narrating-the-1997-think-different-tv-ad/

Steve Jobs introduced the campaign to Apple employees on September 23, 1997. Instead of leading with processor speeds, the film put artists, scientists and other independent minds on screen. Richard Dreyfuss narrates this broadcast version. Jobs also recorded a narration, which is why another familiar version sounds different.

## Apple: Think Different: Gandhi (1997 campaign)

TBWA/Chiat/Day; poster record from Posteritati

https://posteritati.com/poster/63231/apple-think-different-original-2000-us-mini-poster

Preview: https://cdn.posteritati.com/posters/000/000/078/751/apple-think-different-md-web.jpg

The photograph takes almost the whole page; the Apple logo takes very little. Apple borrows the company of someone already known for thinking independently. That is an ambitious association for a computer maker to ask you to make. This particular print is the educator edition sent to schools in 2000, according to Posteritati’s catalogue.

## Apple: Welcome Home (2018)

TBWA / Media Arts Lab; directed by Spike Jonze

https://www.dandad.org/work/d-ad-awards-archive/welcome-home

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xwc22EK8qE0

Spike Jonze directed FKA twigs in an apartment that stretches and folds as she dances. It is a 2018 HomePod commercial, but the room does most of the selling. The set and choreography make the familiar feeling of getting home and putting music on look newly possible.

## Google: Parisian Love (2009 / 2010)

Google Creative Lab

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnsSUqgkDwU

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnsSUqgkDwU

Google posted the film in November 2009, then ran it during the 2010 Super Bowl. The searches tell one part of the story; the sounds tell you what is happening outside the browser. No invented interface. Just a search box you already know how to read.

## Nike: Write the Future (2010)

Wieden+Kennedy; directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu

https://wklondon.com/work/write-the-future/

Viewing copy: https://vimeo.com/28004250

Alejandro González Iñárritu directed this 2010 Nike film. A touch of the ball sends the edit racing through imagined futures: headlines, statues, reputations and jokes. It is the worry before a big sporting moment, supplied with an enormous production budget.

## Nike: Nothing Beats a Londoner (2018)

Wieden+Kennedy London; directed by Megaforce

https://wklondon.com/work/nothing-beats-londoner/

Viewing copy: https://vimeo.com/300516370

Young London athletes take turns explaining why their training is harder than everyone else’s. Megaforce directed the 2018 film for Wieden+Kennedy. The places, accents and everyday inconveniences matter. Move this script to another city and you would have to write it again.

## Nike: Airport ’98 (1998)

Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam; directed by John Woo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNX0W6IY2q0

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNX0W6IY2q0

John Woo directed Brazil’s football team turning an airport delay into a game. The 1998 Nike film gives the players a whole terminal to play with. Everyone else’s luggage, queues and departure gates become part of the pitch.

## Lurpak: Kitchen Odyssey (2011)

Wieden+Kennedy London; directed by Dougal Wilson

https://wklondon.com/work/kitchen-odyssey/

Viewing copy: https://vimeo.com/167873302

Dougal Wilson directed this 2011 Lurpak film for Wieden+Kennedy London. Close-ups turn cooking into a small expedition: heat, movement, ingredients and hands. Dinner has not become more expensive. We have simply been given a much better view of it.

## Cadbury: Eyebrows (2009)

Fallon; directed by Tom Kuntz

https://clclt.com/blogs/cadbury-eyebrow-dance-2213973/

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB80JwTi-I8

Fallon followed Gorilla with two children waiting for a school photograph. Tom Kuntz directed the film in 2009. Another chocolate ad with almost no interest in discussing chocolate, and an impressive commitment to a very small facial movement.

## Škoda: Cake (2007)

Fallon; directed by Chris Palmer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIGrM8AwUHc

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIGrM8AwUHc

Bakers built a full-sized Škoda Fabia from cake and confectionery over a support structure. Chris Palmer directed the 2007 film for Fallon. The assembly line is familiar; the materials are not. It is difficult to watch without wondering which part you would eat first.

## Got Milk?: Aaron Burr (1993)

Goodby Silverstein & Partners; directed by Michael Bay

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Burr_%28advertisement%29

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E90JIkk0Ntk

The film sells milk by arranging for it to be absent at exactly the wrong moment. A history enthusiast knows the answer to a radio question but has trouble getting it out. Michael Bay directed this first television spot of the Got Milk? campaign before his feature-film career.

## Snickers: Betty White (2010)

BBDO New York

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA7-31Cxc2I

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA7-31Cxc2I

BBDO cast Betty White in this 2010 Snickers football game. Hunger becomes a casting decision: the player is quite literally not themselves. A simple enough idea to repeat with different people, and a first performance that gave the campaign plenty to live up to.

## Budweiser: Whassup? (1999)

DDB Chicago; directed by Charles Stone III

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whassup

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWgXXyL3vEI

Charles Stone III’s short film True became the basis for this Budweiser campaign. He directed the commercials too. Friends had their own ridiculous way of saying hello; after the ad, a great many more friends did.

## Guinness: Surfer (1999)

AMV BBDO; directed by Jonathan Glazer

https://www.dandad.org/work/d-ad-awards-archive/surfer-2

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9ogzVyTtcw

White horses emerge from the surf as a man waits for his wave. The film turns the waiting associated with a pint of Guinness into a story worth waiting through. Its black-and-white imagery also makes the whole screen feel related to the drink.

## Guinness: noitulovE (2005)

AMV BBDO; directed by Daniel Kleinman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qINiB3ndGmU

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qINiB3ndGmU

Three Guinness drinkers travel backwards through the history of life. Daniel Kleinman directed the 2005 film for AMV BBDO. The title is “evolution” backwards. Guinness had already made a campaign out of waiting; this time the wait takes several million years.

## Sony: Paint (2006)

Fallon; directed by Jonathan Glazer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paint_%28advertisement%29

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5tLqb8T5xU

After Balls, Sony’s colour campaign moved to a Glasgow tower block and eruptions of paint. This linked upload is a director’s cut, with a different soundtrack from the familiar television version. The visual idea stays wonderfully literal: give colour enough room to happen.

## Honda: Grrr (2004)

Wieden+Kennedy London; directed by Smith & Foulkes

https://wklondon.com/work/grr/

Viewing copy: https://vimeo.com/27540134

Animated creatures inhabit a bright world disturbed by dirty, noisy engines. The film turns dislike into a motive for improving something. It is an unusually happy way to introduce a diesel engine, with Garrison Keillor providing the voice.

## Honda: Hands (2013)

Wieden+Kennedy London; directed by Smith & Foulkes

https://wklondon.com/work/hands/

Viewing copy: https://vimeo.com/165846733

Honda’s products transform between a pair of hands in this 2013 film by Smith & Foulkes. The motorcycles, machines and inventions share the same small stage. A company history that looks more like somebody happily tinkering at a desk.

## Honda: The Other Side (2014)

Wieden+Kennedy London; directed by Daniel Wolfe

https://wklondon.com/work/the-other-side/

Viewing copy: https://vimeo.com/132702521

The original interactive film let viewers hold R to switch between two parallel lives, matched shot for shot. That original experience is not recreated here. The agency’s short case film shows how it worked, and why an interaction can be the idea rather than an extra button.

## Nokia: Dot (2010)

Wieden+Kennedy London; Aardman

https://wklondon.com/work/dot/

Viewing copy: https://vimeo.com/15027479

Aardman filmed this tiny stop-motion world with a Nokia N8 and a microscope attachment. Wieden+Kennedy’s 2010 ad therefore uses the phone to make the thing you are watching. A camera demonstration with its own very small heroine.

## Canal+: The Bear (2011)

BETC; directed by Matthijs van Heijningen

https://www.dandad.org/insights/awards/bear-case-study-insights

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3393O1uD_w8

A very demanding director takes us through his process. BETC built a film about loving cinema that also has the confidence to laugh at filmmaking. Leave the explanation closed until you have watched it; the final perspective is the point.

## evian: Roller Babies (2009)

BETC; directed by Michael Gracey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQcVllWpwGs

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUdLdkB0lzM

Michael Gracey directed BETC’s digitally animated skating babies for evian in 2009. The water stays off the rink. The babies do things babies cannot do. The choreography is given considerably more attention than either of those objections.

## Skittles: Touch (2007)

TBWA / Chiat / Day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3Zma2_n5CA

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3Zma2_n5CA

Everything a man touches turns into Skittles. The film treats a children’s-story premise with workplace seriousness, then follows the consequences further than a cheerful product fantasy normally would. A small warning: this is one of the darker jokes in the collection.

## Reebok: Terry Tate: Office Linebacker (2003)

Rawson Marshall Thurber; starring Lester Speight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByjxmO6C_CA

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZEL3u0o-gw

The series transfers the aggression of American football into office administration. Tiny breaches of etiquette meet a completely disproportionate response. The mismatch carries an entire character, not merely one punchline. Includes comic violence and strong language.

## Amazon: Alexa Loses Her Voice (2018)

Lucky Generals; directed by Wayne McClammy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNxvsxU2rJE

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNxvsxU2rJE

When Alexa goes quiet, famous voices fill in. Their familiar personalities make them spectacularly unsuitable for an assistant’s ordinary jobs. The film demonstrates why the product is useful by imagining the alternatives doing those jobs badly.

## P&G: Thank You, Mum (2012)

Wieden+Kennedy

https://wklondon.com/work/thank-you-mum/

Viewing copy: https://vimeo.com/167870847

P&G’s Olympic campaign connected sporting achievement with the everyday work of raising children. The shift in attention is the idea: look away from the medal for a moment and notice who made the journey possible. The agency’s page includes films from the campaign.

## Sainsbury’s: The Big Night (2018)

Wieden+Kennedy London; directed by Michael Gracey

https://wklondon.com/work/the-big-night/

Viewing copy: https://vimeo.com/300249966

Michael Gracey directed this 2018 Sainsbury’s school performance for Wieden+Kennedy. The production keeps cutting back to parents watching their children. Watch for the electrical costume: a very small part can still get the biggest laugh.

## IKEA: Lamp (2002)

Crispin Porter + Bogusky; directed by Spike Jonze

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU-cori12KU

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU-cori12KU

Camera placement, rain and music give an abandoned object a point of view. Then the ad changes its mind about the feelings it has carefully made. Admire the storytelling and still question the invitation to replace things. Enjoying an ad need not mean agreeing with its argument.

## Honda: Keep Up (2015)

Wieden+Kennedy London

https://wklondon.com/work/keep-up/

Viewing copy: https://vimeo.com/132216586

Wieden+Kennedy made the words speed up for this 2015 Honda film. Instead of watching somebody else being challenged, you try to keep reading. It gets an extra response from the viewer without adding a single control.

## Volvo Trucks: The Hamster Stunt (2013)

Forsman & Bodenfors

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N87uxyDQT0

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N87uxyDQT0

Volvo Trucks put a hamster in a wheel to help demonstrate light steering. A professional driver is involved; the hamster is not navigating the truck by itself. Made by Forsman & Bodenfors in 2013. A useful companion to Van Damme’s rather larger demonstration.

## BMW: Star (2001)

BMW Films; directed by Guy Ritchie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXx-cF_MUyA

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXx-cF_MUyA

Clive Owen drives through a short film with a very difficult passenger. BMW’s The Hire series was made for the internet in 2001 and 2002, before YouTube existed. The car gets to perform inside a film somebody might choose to watch. Includes strong language.

## Cravendale: Cats With Thumbs (2011)

Wieden+Kennedy London; directed by Tom Kuntz

https://wklondon.com/work/cats-with-thumbs/

Viewing copy: https://vimeo.com/27540186

Wieden+Kennedy London and Tom Kuntz gave Cravendale’s cats opposable thumbs. They then took the consequences seriously enough to make the milk look genuinely vulnerable. The campaign dates to 2011. It remains a persuasive argument for keeping an eye on the cat.

## Lurpak: Weave Your Magic (2013)

Wieden+Kennedy London

https://wklondon.com/work/weave-your-magic/

Viewing copy: https://vimeo.com/67226441

Wieden+Kennedy’s 2013 Lurpak film spends its time with the ingredients and the person cooking, rather than a finished plate. Preparing dinner becomes the interesting part. The butter has found something better to do than sit beside its own packaging.

## Sainsbury’s: Food Dancing (2017)

Wieden+Kennedy London

https://wklondon.com/work/food-dancing/

Viewing copy: https://vimeo.com/200040030

The agency filmed people dancing in their own kitchens around the UK. Ordinary rooms and personal moves supply the texture. Instead of making cooking look more expensive, the film notices that people already find little ways to enjoy it.

## Honda: Dream Makers (2017)

Wieden+Kennedy London

https://wklondon.com/work/dream-makers/

Viewing copy: https://vimeo.com/225845920

Honda’s 2017 film puts storyboards, unfinished production and final images on screen together. Wieden+Kennedy lets you see the work behind the spectacle. A good companion to Cog, which makes its own kind of assembly worth watching.

## E*TRADE: Monkey (2000)

Goodby Silverstein & Partners; directed by Bryan Buckley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Muyq2kMDFoA

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Muyq2kMDFoA

A monkey dances. Two men clap. Then this 2000 E*TRADE spot tells you how much the airtime cost. Goodby Silverstein & Partners and Bryan Buckley made the expense of Super Bowl advertising into the joke. The media buy is part of the script.

## Tide: It’s a Tide Ad (2018)

Saatchi & Saatchi New York; directed by Traktor

https://www.wearesaatchi.com/work/its-a-tide-ad/

Viewing copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpaLHwwYxE8

David Harbour wanders into other kinds of commercials and claims them for Tide because the clothes are clean. Saatchi & Saatchi’s 2018 campaign uses the whole advertising break as its material. It is a good one to finish on. We have an ad to show you too.