Bestads Top 6 of the Week reviewed by Simon Foster, creative director, AMV/BBDO, London
Call me a sucker for good old-fashioned writing but I’ve always loved the Fedex spots. They’re almost a reason in and of themselves to persevere with watching the golf on a Sunday afternoon (that’s if you live in the good ole U.S. of A.) They’re consistently well-written, well-produced and watchable. And they’re proof-positive that you can talk directly about your product and still not bore the pants off people. “Witness Protection” is like all the other Fedex spots – it holds up well to repeated viewings, which of course is a must for any spot that will air 47 times in the course of one tournament. (I also highly recommend checking out ‘AAAAuto Repair’ – another spot in the campaign. Hilarious.)
Runner up goes to the Old Spice spot from Wieden. This one’s not quite up to the usual standard, but I have to applaud the audacity of the work.
Wow. I had some real trouble here. Maybe I’m just getting finicky in my old age but I really don’t like any of them. They’re either too obvious, too obtuse or trying too hard. Next.
Thankfully the outdoor category was somewhat more rewarding. I really love the craft – both writing and art direction – that’s evident in the Irish Examiner work, and that’s my pick of the bunch.
At the other end of the craft scale would be Hell Pizza’s ‘Mis-fortune Cookies’ (since when does misfortune have a hyphen?), but that doesn’t stop me liking it. Just the idea of a Misfortune Cookie appeals to the malevolent side of my personality, which seems right on brand. It’s a great 360 idea, however the poster does seem rather word-heavy for an outdoor execution. Perhaps it ran in a train station where idle commuters had hour upon hour to ponder its brilliance.
Love love love the Movia Nightbus site. I felt like I was watching a highlights (or should I say lowlights) reel of my glory days. Very engaging, very clever, and with the odd fart gag thrown in for good measure. A really great example of technology being used to hook people in and make a point – or at least I assume it was making a point, since I’m not exactly fluent in Danish.
I’ve chosen the Aldo site as the runner-up – not because it’s outrageously clever like the Movia site, but because it’s the exact opposite. The site may be mindless, but it did have me staring at a pair of shoes that I quite like for about three minutes so I’d have to consider that a job well done.