Bestads Best of the Week Reviewed by Adam Bodfish, ECD, McCann Birmingham
Each week Bestadsontv.com [the global arm of Campaign Brief] picks the very best advertising in the world, in every medium – which is reviewed by a top creative director or team to select their own personal favourites.
This week’s guest judge is Adam Bodfish, Executive Creative Director, McCann Birmingham.
Winner: Telstra ‘Wherever we go 2‘. How did I know this was the winner? I watched it twice. Almost a third time. With a smile on my face. Whilst humming along. And tapping my foot. With both kids congregated around my laptop. There are a few possible cheeky nods to Coke’s GTA spot in there too. I clocked them, appreciated them, and liked the whole thing even more for it. *Still humming.
Runner Up: Chicken Licken ‘General Raj‘. I love over-the-top Bollywood mass action scenes, portrayed by gravity-defying stunts, slow-motion shots, and impossible one-person-army scenarios. And although this ad ends like a classic match-cut social post you’d expect from Judy’s Family Cafe. It’s saved by a mass of barmy Bollywood action.
Winner: Mumsnet ‘Youth Phone Addiction‘. Sometimes the smartest ideas arrive wearing very familiar clothes. And at a moment when the impact of social media on children is dominating headlines and certainly my dinner-table conversations, this piece taps straight into a cultural nerve. The result is unsettling, immediate, and difficult to swipe past.
Runner Up: Skittles ‘Irritate the Rainbow‘. It’s right because it’s wrong. In a world where every poster is polished to within an inch of its life, I like that Skittles is doing the opposite, deliberately. It’s a simple trick, but a clever one.
Winner: Vegemite ‘Vegemite Vegemite Jars‘. VEGEMITE VEGEMITE for GOUT GOUT. It’s simple, proudly over-the-top, and exactly the kind of self-aware national humour the brand has long owned. It’s also a lovely use of their media space to help promote the brands newest ambassador. Although, it has to be said, MARMITE MARMITE does roll off the tongue a little better.
Runner Up: Corona Cero ‘Sun Tags‘. I’m a sucker for a beer in the sun. Trouble is, in a city there are never quite enough places to enjoy a beer in the sun.
Corona Cero: Hold my non-alcoholic beer…
Winner: Chupa Chups ‘Hardest-to-Open Lollipop‘. Great ideas often start with an annoying truth. And anyone who’s ever tried to open a Chupa Chups knows the grappling match that usually comes first. This idea leans straight into that famously stubborn, pain in the arse wrapper and turns the complaint into a neat bit of brand self-awareness.
Runner Up: Philippine Airlines ‘Safetynovela‘. Who doesn’t love a bit of drama. So instead of fighting for attention, Philippine Airlines cleverly leans into it, turning the mandatory safety briefing into a full-blown telenovela complete with commotion, turbulence, betrayals and tearful confrontations. Which, come to think of it, sounds suspiciously like the average flight with my family.
They say, the creative adult is the child who survived… sadly, my hairline didn’t.
But my appetite for creativity has grown stronger by the day.
This hunger for originality, innovation, and building brands has enabled me to work with some of the best brands and agencies in the world – present company included.
I have successfully developed and implemented fully integrated and results-driven work for clients including Samsung, Nespresso, Diageo, HSBC, McDonald’s, Bosch, Sea Shepherd, Thomas Cook, RAC, Kenco, Nestle, Whirlpool, and Land Rover. And my work has picked up at the usual suspects, such as Cannes, Effies, LIA, One Show, AWARD Awards, Kinsale, Campaign and Spikes Asia to name but a few.
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