The 30 best ads of Campaign Brief’s 30 years. 2014: St John Ambulance ‘Break The Barrier’ TVC

Campaign Brief WA turned 30 in June, so we’re looking back and choosing the best ad done in each of our 30 years.

If you’ve been paying attention you’ll realise we’ve kind of bolloxed this up and that this is in fact our 31st ‘best’ ad. It’s because we started with 1984 as a full year when actually we published our first issue mid that year.

We knew it would happen but did it to make sure we included the Piper West outdoor in our review. How could we not include WA’s only Gold winner?

Anyway, here we are at 2014 and the best ad of the year so far is clearly The Brand Agency’s ‘Break The Barrier‘ TVC for St John Ambulance.

Created by David Donald and Craig Buchanan, it’s a pretty slick production by The Penguin Empire, with Allan Myles behind the camera and Grant Sputore calling the shots. Sputore got a nomination for his Direction at Cannes recently.

The instant when the boy slips and cracks his head on the pool edge gives us a shiver every time.

Will it still be the best by year’s end? Who knows, but it will be tough to beat. Nice work by all.

As we said when we started this series, we have picked the best ad of each year, rather than the 30 best ads overall. If we’d taken that approach, the list would likely be quite a bit different with some years seeing several outstanding ads produced, and other years being a little lean.

To recap our 31 best ads of Campaign Brief’s 30 years:

1984 : Piper West outdoor – Oglivy & Mather

1985 : Dept of Industrial Development ‘State of the Future‘ television – Jenkin Morgan Aitken

1986 : Murphy’s Mufflers ‘Shhh‘ outdoor – Baynham

1987 : Stella Artois ‘Menage Artois‘ outdoor – Clemenger

1988 : Aboriginal Anti Celebration Authority ‘Darkie Coon…‘ print – JMAO&M

1989 : HBF ‘Ladder‘ outdoor – Baynham

1990 : Health Dept (Drinksafe) ‘Respect Yourself‘  television – Marketforce

1991 : Adventure World ‘Turbo Mountain‘ television – 303

1992 : HBF Worldwide Travel Insurance ‘Phantom‘ radio – 303

1993 : Retravision ‘End is Nigh‘ television – MJB&B

1994 : WA Turf Club ‘Yearling‘ print – The Brand Agency

1995 : Health Dept (Quit) ‘Lifelines‘ television – Vinten Browning

1996 : Chippers ‘Elephant Tears‘ press – Vinten Browning

1997 : City of Perth ‘Pablo Picasky‘ television – JDA

1998 : Keep Australia Beautiful Council ‘Dead Animals‘ television – JDA

1999 : Office of Road Safety ‘Boy’s Night‘ radio – 303

2000 : Cancer Foundation ‘Nice People‘ television – Marketforce

2001 : RAC Security ‘Free House Cleaning‘ press – The Brand Agency

2002 : Burswood Casino ‘No Smoking‘ out of home – The Brand Agency

2003 : Dept. of Community Development (Ngala) ‘Shaken Baby‘ television – The Brand Agency

2004 : Office of Road Safety ‘Stopping Distance‘ outdoor – Marketforce

2005 : Lotterywest (Lotto) ‘Wallet‘ press – Marketforce

2006 : Lotterywest (Scratch N Win) ‘Scrabble X‘ television – Marketforce

2007 : Tourism WA ‘Wave‘ press – Marketforce

2008 : Perth Zoo ‘Find Your Animal‘ radio – The Brand Agency

2009 : HBF ‘Working Less‘ television – Meerkats

2010 : Alcoholics Anonymous ‘Work‘ television – Gatecrasher

2011 : Office of Road Safety ‘Enjoy The Ride‘ television – 303Lowe

2012 : Attix ‘Storage Space‘ press – SHEDcsc

2013 : IKEA ‘Valentine’s Day‘ press – 303Lowe

2014 : St John Ambulance ‘Break The Barrier’ television – The Brand Agency

Best of the best? Whew – it was tough enough picking these! If we had to make a call, we’d go for JDA’s Dead Animals, a timeless ad from the ‘golden age’ of Perth advertising.

What would you choose?