Bestads Six of the Best reviewed by Nils Andersson, regional creative president, TBWA
Each week Bestads 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 Nils Andersson, regional creative president, TBWA\Asia.
Not sure I received an abundance of gifts in my inbox, in the run up to Christmas, but here goes. I really tried to judge everything without reading any written explanations whatsoever, so let the work speak for itself. One thing I did notice overall was the tendency for long form content to be too long. And ‘content’ means it should have engaging content, right?
Winner: Waitrose. Snowed in. Speaking of Christmas, first up, a beautiful festive piece from Waitrose. Not easy to pull off something distinctive with all the competition out there at this time of year, but this was simple and well told. Made me feel all Christmassy. Somehow, the black and white helped.
Runner up: Air New Zealand. Plane spotters. Meet Terry and Christine. A unique couple in their own right. This was a story of less flights, therefore less for the ardent spotters and a new recruit called John, to look for. A little long, but some funny moments of excitement between the couple. The sexual innuendo was very cleverly handled and nicely directed.
Winner: NZ Transport Agency. Come Down. I guess driving when stoned is never a good idea, and this told that story dramatically. Somehow, print seemed a strange medium to using to connect, but there we are.
Runner up: Chicago coalition for the homeless. Lower Wacker and Columbus. Ranking a place to sleep by star ratings. Not bad, but just a few to many words for my liking.
Winner: Abarth. Love at first sight. 7 seconds to make an impression? An interesting notion, so we end up with a first date in the back of a car, whilst being thrown around a test course. Fun to watch, though I just wonder if there was more to be done by literally using the 7 seconds only, to impress?
Runner Up: Tennessee Department of Tourist Development. Color Blind. I sometimes get nervous when we, the industry, use affliction to make a point, but in this case it just about seems to work. The full glory of a Tennessee fall, even for the colorblind. I did wonder what they did to the lenses to correct them for color though. And when they mentioned that many of the viewfinders had been adjusted for the colorblind, did that mean it would mess up the view for others?
Winner: Sports Experts. The Thermal discount. The hotter your body temperature, the more discount you get at the store. Simple and to the point. In this case the content was short, but felt a little too short. I wanted to know a little more about how it worked for real.
Runner up: McDelivery Pin. Something pretty unique to the Philippines, is annually gathering around cemeteries, to celebrate their loved ones. Even staying throughout the night! So creating a McDonald’s pick up point seemed a smart way of finding your order.