Bestads Best of the Week Reviewed by Zane Radcliffe, ECD, McCann UK
Each week Bestadsontv.com [the global arm of Campaign Brief] 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 Zane Radcliffe, Executive Creative Director, McCann UK.
BEST TV
Winner: Fuck Cancer ‘Beat Cancer Off‘. Beating off the competition this week is this prostate cancer awareness spot based around the startling fact that men who ejaculate over 21 times a month may reduce their risk of prostate cancer by 22%. Viewers can pleasure themselves with a Frank Sinatra soundalike crooning his way through lyrical euphemisms – from ‘choking the chicken’ to ‘milking the moose’ – brought to vivid life with entertaining and unambiguous animations. I can only encourage my fellow men to draw the curtains and treat themselves to a good ‘Frank’.
Runner Up: AXA ‘Nothing Stops Women’s Rugby‘. It’s fitting, then, that our runner up features a group of men determined to ensure that women can’t get hold of their balls. In this case, rugby balls, and we get flashbacks to a stuffy gentlemen’s club in France, where undisguised misogynists are so threatened by the prospect of women one day infiltrating their sport that they brainstorm barriers to their progress. Of course, barriers are there to be smashed and the women’s game is ably shown as unstoppable.
BEST PRINT
Winner: Amstel ‘Shot Without Permission‘. As agencies and clients wrestle with the implications of AI – and consumers at large are calling out fakery – this is an admirable and refreshing attempt by Amstel to capture ‘real’ moments of unscripted kinship over a lager or two. Yes, you could argue that any beer / pizza / hospitality brand could do this… but they didn’t. Extra points for the CTA inviting those who spot themselves to claim their usage fees as compensation. If only it was as easy for actors, artists and creators to do likewise when the algorithms ‘scrape’ their original work.
Runner Up: Weinbrenner ‘Step 1‘. Outdoor clothing brand Weinbrenner nails the brief with a topical strategy timed to coincide with the Artemis expedition. The insight – using the lunar landscapes of Chile to land the point that ‘you don’t need to travel to space to experience another planet’. They should have left it that, however, but they inexplicably give us two headlines, adding a rather superfluous: ‘A small step for man. A giant leap into adventure.’ And, like the toilet on Artemis, things get a little bogged down.
BEST OUTDOOR
Winner: Mobilise ‘William‘. A terrific example of message and medium perfectly aligning. To raise awareness of youth homelessness, the Australian brand chalked children’s height charts on to city walls. And that’s the idea in one sentence. I tell my creatives that if you can’t express your idea in one simple sentence, then it probably isn’t a great idea. Simplicity is difficult, so the creative team behind this deserves to be walking tall.
Runner Up: Volkswagen ‘It’s just like a Golf‘. Creativity is also about looking at life from fresh perspectives. Which is literally the rationale behind this inspired bit of media where the car brand’s messages – printed backwards on the windows of their own dealerships – are seen reflected in the windows of their closest competitors across the way. I might employ the same tactic to signal my displeasure to the guy across the road who lets his yappy chihuahua out at 5am every morning to wake our neighbourhood.
BEST INTERACTIVE
Winner: Embratur/RAI ‘Amazonia‘. A visually stunning and truly authentic typographical brand identity created by Mother Nature herself. The Amazonia logo literally unites the communities that sit along its flowing expanse by using aerial images of its topographical twists and bends to create an entire alphabet – and a beautiful visual language – that positions it as a destination for sustainable tourism. And , like the great river, I can’t help gushing.
Runner Up: Corona ‘Pocket Sunset‘. In which the brand continues to disassociate itself with the name of a virus by using the brightness function on your phone to create a sunset and claim rewards. It’s a low-key but effective interactive mechanic that builds on the brand’s fantastic work in print and outdoor in recent years to ‘own’ the sundowner moment. Install it on your phone and be prepared for some joker to point to the bulge in your pocket and ask: ‘is that a sunset in your pocket or are you just pleased to unlock Corona benefits.
Zane is celebrating his 30th year in the industry following stints at Leo Burnett, HHCL and The Leith Agency. He has won multiple Cannes Lions, D&AD Pencils, Sharks and Creative Circle awards.
Outside of advertising, Radcliffe is a published author of three novels, with his debut winning the WHSmith ‘People’s Choice’ award.
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