BEST TVWinner:
The Guardian. It's a bit unfair to show this quintessentially British ad to an expat who's been away for 6 years. I'm vulnerable to anything that tugs at my ol' Blighty heartstrings; and this ad tugs in spades. Some lovely insights, well shot and nicely underplayed. I like the way this 90 sec version switches from Saturday to Sunday dead on 45 seconds... with a lovely moon montage and an Ode to the Hangover. If I was being particularly critical I'd say that the music is a bit too telegraphic of the idea, but that didn't stop me getting all misty eyed. God bless the Queen.
Runner Up:
Canal+ gets my vote. It's a bit of an old idea (I'm reminded of a press ad where a reporter waits, pad in hand, next to fielders on a cricket pitch) but there are some nice comedy moments. The end line feels like it's been translated from another language - which it may indeed have been.
BEST PRINTWinner:
Jeep by a mile. There's a lovely wry humour to it, plus the easy confidence of a brand leader. I'll put my cynical scam-ometer away and just bathe in its sheer wonderfulness. It reminds me of the old black and white Tarzan TV show where he yodels and there's a montage of all the animals running off. Beep.
Runner up:
Coppafeel comes a (rather distant) second. It's a commendable cause and the thought that you should 'know what normal feels like' feels smart. Is this the best way that idea could have been brought to life though?
BEST OUTDOOR Winner: Well it wasn't a vintage selection, but the
Dancing Traffic Light shuffles off with the top spot. It's a 'smart' way to adjust an existing piece of street furniture to encourage pedestrians to wait at a red crossing. It's a commendable effort to make jurors think twice about where to put their vote next year, and if it just happens to save a life or two along the way then that's a bonus.
Runner up:
John Lewis. Well-crafted 'visual swapsies' still do it for me now and then... and this is one of those. Like I said, not a vintage week.
BEST INTERACTIVE Winner: The smartest bit of interactive thinking goes to
World Vision this week. Taking the donation of one large corporation and splitting it into 400,000 separate individual donations is a nice way of trying to reinvigorate the cause amongst an increasingly apathetic population. It's easy to donate other people's money, but if it gets people thinking about donating their own in future, then it'll be worth it.
Runner up: I didn't really think that anything deserved a commendation this week, but if I had to choose (which I do) then I'd say the
Lidl World Cup. Mainly because of the sheer amount of effort they went to, and I like table football. Thanks for listening.
This week's bestads judge is Steve Wakelam, group creative director at Grey, New York.
Steve grew up in England. After a short and unremarkable stint as an account man, he switched to being a creative. Always a keen writer, he ignored his passion and became an art director.
In addition to winning five Cannes Golds and five D&AD Pencils in the last six years, he's also won four Golds and four Silvers at the One Show, a Clio Grand Prix and a Spikes Grand Prix.
While at DDB Sydney he was a creative director on Volkswagen for 3 years, and is currently group creative director at Grey New York.
