You hate ads, but not these ones. They’re touching. They’re hilarious. They’re disturbing and sometimes disgusting. It’s time for my blog on the best ads of 2015. Read it – you’ll be glad you did.
The remarkable piece of this ad is the story behind it. The brains behind the magic, Goodby Silverstein & Partners in New York, asked a 7-year-old blind girl what she envisions when she “watches” the Wizard of Oz. Then they recreated her version, helping Comcast Xfinity to emotionally introduce their first talking guide.
Everything about this is a feel-good spot. It’s less about selling a product and more about sharing a feeling (the best ads always are). In fact, you could watch this entire ad and not know what it’s for until the last two seconds. There’s no photo of their product, no website info, there’s not even a call to action, but it leaves viewers with a sense of companionship. And that’s what brands want you to feel with them. Agency Credit: Droga5, New York
3. Apple’s iPhone 6 Billboard Campaign
Can we get a round of applause for the simple brilliance of these out-of-home advertisements? Apple found photos from 162 iPhone 6 users and slapped them on billboards in 25 countries around the world. How much did it cost them to put together a fancy design? (HINT: there was no fancy design.) How much time did they spend writing cleverly crafted copy? Not much. You know your product has hit a home run when your customers literally make your ads for you. Agency Credit: TBWA\Media Arts Lab LA
Here’s one we love (disclaimer: our office is majority women). Regardless, this campaign won multiple awards so we can’t be the only ones who appreciate its motivational message. This Girl Can films have been viewed more than 37 million times, and the campaign has been talked about in 110 countries. As of January 12, 2016 the campaign has been mentioned on social media every single day since it launched on January 12, 2015. Actually, we saw this theme of women empowerment quite a bit in 2015, including the Always “Like a Girl” campaign and Nike’s “Better For It.”Agency Credit: FCB Inferno
5. Sanctuary Asia
This ad series actually made its first appearance in the tail end of 2014, and honestly, I didn’t want to include it. They’re gross, right? But the question for every ad is: how do we get people to listen? Sometimes that means serving people something they don’t want to see. I cringed when I found this ad, but as they say, you can’t unsee things. And that’s why this ad is effective. It portrays truth upfront. You might not appreciate it, but you will remember it.
6. Depaul – “There’s Another Side to the Story”
The second set of out-of-home ads to make our Top 10 list, these posters were placed on street corners so that a viewer could read one of two different messages. When reading the full message, the ads encouraged people to get involved with Depaul – a charity fighting homelessness. Agency Credit: Publicis London
Forget static billboards. For International Women’s Day, Women’s Aid and WCRS in London created these billboards of the future. By using facial recognition technology, the billboard could track how many pairs of eyes were on it, which triggered the image of a bruised woman to change. The more people who looked, the more the woman’s bruises disappeared – sending the message that paying attention to the issue of domestic abuse is a key step in preventing it.
8. Abrinq Foundation – “Save the Children”
At first glance, these look like traditional high fashion ads. But look closer and you’ll see a child trapped behind the patterns in each outfit, illustrating the problem of child labor in developing countries. Agency Credit: Lew’Lara\TBWA, Brazil
9. Ecofill Ink Cartridges
Question: How do you make an everyday product that’s been around forever stand out? Answer: With the help of Ogilvy & Mather. In this fun Columbian campaign, scenes for each color show the unfortunate outcome of running out of printer ink. Also an award-winning campaign, this series earned itself a Cannes Gold Lion.
If it’s true that hindsight is 20/20, I bet everyone looked back on Geico’s commercials with the same thought – “why didn’t we think of that?” The insurance company capitalized on limited time and turned 5 seconds into 5 seconds of fame. The unskippable ad won a Cannes Film Grand Prix, two Gold Clio Awards, and made AdWeek’s December cover. Their biggest win? The fact that people kept watching their ad, even when they had the option to skip it. Geico FTW. Agency Credit: The Martin Agency, Virginia
If this blog had been titled “The Top 11 Ads of 2015,” this spot would have been included. (Spoiler alert: It was a Super Bowl ad, shared more than 1 million times, and featured Liam Neeson…) Also, check out our pick for the always-heartwarming Christmas Spot of the Year.
Have a favorite ad from 2015 that we didn’t include? Share it with us in the comments below!
