I love Bob Dylan and I love the Black Eyed Peas and Will.I.Am. I thought the music worked out great on this ad. Plus, it reinforces Pepsi’s brand, the choice of the new generation. I still don’t like Pepsi, but I loved this ad.
2. Cars.com - David Abernathy
This was a pretty good ad. They get a big thumbs up for the Rushmore-esque homage to Wes Anderson. Also, I knew a guy once named Abernathy. He was a good guy. That said, I’m not a big fan of the fear tactic. If Abernathy’s afraid to buy a car, couldn’t he hire somebody with some guts to do it for him?
3. Doritos - The Power of the Crunch
Wow, it sure dropped off quick, didn’t it? OK, the guy can do whatever he wants when he crunches a Dorito. This is a pretty lame commercial. But, it reminded me of one of my favorite episodes from the Extras with Ricky Gervais. In the show, Patrick Stewart, the august British actor who played Jean-Luc Picard, is hawking a screenplay in which the main character can undress women with the power of his mind. It’s so hackneyed, it’s actually funny.
4. G.I. JOE
It combines the nerd power of collectible action figures with the geek appeal of ninjas. It’s amazing. I can hear my wife laughing at me right now, but I don’t care. I want to see this movie.
Dishonorable mentions:
1. SoBe Life Water: Those lizards were completely inane last year. They were worse this year.
2. GoDaddy.com: Tasteless as always. At Advent, we buy lots of domain names and we usually get them from GoDaddy. That’s because they’re the cheapest. Why not advertise that fun fact? Instead they use a nonsensical sex-appeal approach. For me, it was a total backfire. Next time I register a domain for a client, I’m going to offer to cover the extra buck so we won’t have to give business to GoDaddy.
Overall, I think this year was better than last year, commercial-wise. The hundreds of thousands of views that all of these commercials got on YouTube are a testament to the power of web video. I can’t wait to see what happens next year.