It seems as though 2016 was a really mixed bag. For us, business has been booming, our clients have been amazing and our service game was strong. However, it would appear as though 2016 was a bit of a shite year in general for much of the world. Between the war and strife around the globe, the Brexit vote going horribly awry, and the never-ending train wreck that was the U.S. presidential election, there just seems to be a lot of negativity in the world. Even the movies that came out were kind of – blah. Thankfully, commercials this year were on point!
Marketing teams the world over seem to be fueled by the worst to tell stories that will make us smile, make us smile or just make us tear up. From commercials created in Canada to Australia and everywhere in between, short form storytelling through commercials have been making us laugh and making us cry all year long. We asked ourselves, how can we sum up the best of 2016? As surface level as this may seem, commercials seemed like the logical place to start.
Taylor V. Treadmill – Apple
We thought we would start with a funny one. It may be petty to take this much joy out of watching Taylor Swift smashing her face on a treadmill – but at this point we just can’t care. Since this commercial was released, 2016 has even managed to tarnish Taylor Swift’s glow. Remember when the year started off and she was still the perfect rich girl next door with #squadgoals? Now she is kind of universally un-liked for the way that she cultivates her persona. So go ahead, watch the Taylor V. Treadmill video, you know you want to.
Duel – Audi
Remember that train wreck of a U.S. presidential election we were talking about up there in the first paragraph? We aren’t the only people who thought it was bad and hard to watch, Venables Bell & Partners, an advertising agency in San Francisco knew the debates were going to be ugly. Armed with this knowledge, they bought ad space during the debates and aired their “Duel” for Audi commercials. Strategically set after a U.S. presidential rally, the commercial features a man and a woman in plain uniforms in a Mr. & Mrs. Smith-esque duel, presumably to the death. They hit each other with everything from their fists to lobsters and it is brilliantly shot in reverse. By the time you get to the end of the commercial (the beginning of the story), you find out that these two are actually valet’s and they are fighting for the right to park the new Audi G5. Why do we consider this one of the best videos of the year? It has a lot to do with timing it during the election and a lot to do with the tip of the hat to excellently choreographed Brad and Angelina fight scenes.
This Stuff Matters – Talk Talk
This next commercial is proof that in times of strife comes strokes of brilliance. From the land that brought us Brexit, the British minds at CHI & Partners in London was hired by Talk Talk, to help rehab their image. Talk Talk is an internet service provider with a bad image problem, they were hacked and had the personal information for over 150,000 customers released. Naturally, they had to find an advertising agency to help give them a people first message – what better way to do that, than with an actual regular, everyday family. The premise was genius, find one normal albeit decently happy family, fill their house with 16 high-res unmanned cameras and wait for the authentic moments of pure gold that only a real honest family could provide. Careful, your “allergies” may start to act up a bit while you watch this 1 minute vid.
Thank You, Mom
We’ve got a HUGE tear jerker for you here. What can bring grown men to their knees and make even the coldest of hearts grab a Kleenex? Mom, of course! Proctor & Gamble could do no wrong this year during the 2016 Summer Olympics, their commercials were killer, but none of them were as good as this one about the women behind the Olympians entitled: Thank You, Mom. Seriously, be prepared to cry your eyes out.
John Lewis – #BusterTheBoxer
John Lewis, the department store in the UK is renowned for their Christmas ads because they are almost always awesome! This year was, of course, no different. The gang at John Lewis combined the comedic and story genius of a kid on Christmas and a dog getting to live out his fanstasies. If this doesn’t make you smile, well…What is wrong with you?!
Did you know that we make videos? We do! And they’re pretty awesome. If your biz needs a video or digital commercial get in touch with us and we can have a coffee and chat about how we can help!