Back to the Start

Another ad that I found extremely well done both in telling a story and in the execution of the production was this two-minute ad produced for Chipotle grill. The story in the ad is about a farmer that decides to grow his farm and in the process becomes a mega farm in which the animals and product no longer look like they are intended. In the end, the farmer decides to go back to the start where the farm once was—basically getting back to the roots of farming.

The other interesting story is how this ad was produced. Event though this could have been animated easily—it was produced using stop motion photography and a dolly over a 50-foot table! Even better, the models were made using an additive printing process.

What I think really comes through on this ad is the culture and mission that Chipotle is trying to convey. Simple, clean and fresh. Well done in my eyes.

Enjoy, and as always, let me know what you think!

Here is the making of the commercial.

Johnnie Walker-The Man Who Walked Around The World

I have been searching the web lately looking at great ads of the past and present. In particular, ads that were/are unique—not just the ad creative, but also the way it is produced. This ad for Johnnie Walker, shot in 2008 and airing in 2009 is a good example of what I am talking about. The unique part of this though is that it was shot in one continuous take. The final ad you see was take #40, and considering the distance one can walk in five-plus minutes, there was a lot of travel involved to restart the takes. This ad was developed by BBH (in the UK).

Sometimes the story of the ad is just as fascinating as the the story the ad itself is telling!

Catvertising, oh so true . . .

I am not much of a cat video fan, but this got my attention. Thanks to John St. in Toronto for making this video!

Enjoy!

The Making of the Old Spice Commercials

Do you like the Old Spice commercial in which the actor Isaiah Mustafa ends up riding a horse? Care to know more about the creative? Leo Laporte, tech journalist for the world and self proclaimed Chief Twit interviewed the men behind the ads; Craig Allen and Eric Kallman of Wieden + Kennedy. This 20-minute interview gets a not always seen, look into the creative’s heads. Enjoy!

who were the 2010 super ad winners?

Congrats to the Saints for the win tonight, but who was the real winner in the ad war? Well, my opinion may not matter, but what do you think? Even if you didn’t see the game, you can still see the ads at youtube. Below are my thoughts and who i think were the winners this year.

First, I noticed that Sprite and 7up were not in the ads at all this year. Hyundai had a strong showing this year, and there was only one U.S. car maker in the commercials, Dodge (I assume the U.S. government-owned GM needed to spend its money a bit more wisely, so no Cadillac this time.)

Another trend that I piked-up on this year was the one of lifetime progressions. Cars.com, Dove, Dodge, Google and Monster.com all used the lifetime progression to sell their products.

Last thing I thought was that Bud Light seemed to be running on empty. One, there were fewer ads from them and nothing really hit me as great. What did you think?

Now for my winners. Bud Light, Budweiser, Coke and Doritos seemed to have the most ad dollars this year and to me, Doritos (Underdog), Budweiser (Bridge), Doritos (Snack Attack Samurai), Hyundai (Brett Favre), Coke (Hard Times), Budweiser (Fence) were clear winners. And for the loosers . . . Boost Mobile, Go Daddy, Taco Bell and 2010 Census (thanks for spending my money wisely though).

Please note that I did not consider any CBS or Movie ads in my thoughts, although the Leno, Oprah, Letterman ad was a good laugh.

In all, the days of crazy, great ads like the lat 90’s really seem to be over with. Please feel free to share your thoughts. What were your favorites and the ones you pan—and were you really offended by the Focus On Family ad that had Tim Teibow and his mother in it? One thing for sure is i registered to get a free pair of pants. I’ll let you know if I actually won a pair tomorrow.

See the ads on youtube.com/superbowl.

embrace life commercial

Every once in a while public service announcements (PSAs) actually grab your attention. This PSA for Sussex Safer Roads in the UK is artfully done and rather simple in the message; “Embrace Life. Always wear your seat belt.” This simple style also tugs at a personal level which I think is the most effective way to get this style of message across to a broad audience. It is rare to see such well done PSAs, but this one is a clear winner!

Vodpod videos no longer available.

the decade in review . . .

OK, I admit that this is really not a design post, but I am interested in your comments as to what the biggest tech, social and overall story was for the past decade. Let me take you back a while and help jog your mind.

In somewhat chronological order here are some bullet points on what went on in the past decade. Sorry if these are more U.S. Centric, but you get what you pay for. In the end, post comments as to what you think were the top stories of this decade. I am interested in your thoughts, not just politically, but also tech-wise.

1. Y2K or Bust
2. Tech stock bubble bursts
3. USS Cole is attacked
4. Human genome deciphered
5. Mad Cow Disease
6. NEAR spacecraft becomes first to orbit an asteroid
7. “I Love You” computer virus
8. 2000 Election (the year of the hanging chad)
9. 9/11
10. iPod debuts
11. 3 megapixel cameras
12. I.R.A. Disarms
13. U.S. attacks Afghanistan
14. Anthrax
15. Enron
16. Shoe bomber
17. U.S. attack Iraq
18. D.C. Sniper
19. Saddam Hussein Captured
20. Space Shuttle Columbia explodes on re-entry
21. Spain terrorist attack
22. Google goes public
23. WiFi
24. Olympics return to Greece
25. Water on Mars
26. SpaceShipOne
27. Pope John Paul II Dies
28. Web 2.0
29. iPhone
30. Hurricane Katrina
31. HDTV conversion
32. Mars rovers land on Mars
33. Saddam Hussein convicted and hung
34. Green Movement
35. Hybrid vehicles
36. Facebook and Myspace
37. Bill Gates steps down from Microsoft as CEO
38. Pluto loses its status as a planet
39. Cloud computing
40. HD-DVD vs Blu-ray
41. Bejing Olympics
42. Twitter
43. HDTV conversion 2
44. Housing bubble-Credit crunch
45. Barack Obama elected president
46. Stock market crash, DOW to 6,547
47. HDTV conversion 3- . . .
48. M.J. no more
49. H1N1
50. Hubble repaired for last time
51. Water on the moon

Remember to post a comment of your thoughts.

movies on youtube?

Say it isn’t so! Well, it is, but before you get super excited; yes, YouTube does now have some feature-length movies that you can now watch on the site. This does is nice, until you see the selection . . . It really isn’t great. But, if you are a movie junkie that can stand the Good, The Bad and the Ugly of what has been produced, I urge you to try it out.

Did I mention that there are some movies out there for you Clint Eastwood fans (for a limited time only)? Such classics as, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and A Fistful of Dollars are out on the YouTube movies section until November 30th. All you need to do is visit the link below and please let me know what you think. I know what I will be doing this Thanksgiving break.

YouTube Movies (www.youtube.com/movies)

Bauter for President!

Vodpod videos no longer available.

verizon goes to the park

Can you hear me now? In an effort to extend the Verizon Wireless message from TV to real life, Verizon did an “On the Street” campaign in which they found a Verizon user and had the Verizon Wireless network crew follow him around a park as in the TV commercials. From the reaction of the park-goers, this seemed to span really well into this sort of advertising. Well done!