London Dancers & Robot Answers: 5 Ads You Should Watch Right Now

At Unruly we love ads, in fact, we love them so much we gather up all the best bits of creative from the past 7 days just so you can catch up before the weekend.

This week’s selection ads features some familiar faces, courtesy of Emirates and Gusto, as well as a surprisingly warm turn from a small robotic man.

Both Emirates and Gusto take a comic route for their ads, with Jennifer Aniston swapping out her first class seats for some family fun.

Also in our roundup are two ads, from The Times and Bose, that both use theme of silence to interesting and similar ends. For The Times it’s all about cutting through the noise to the subjects and topics that matter, and for Bose, it’s about canceling out the noise around you and enjoying music the way it was meant to be heard.

Enjoy!

5. Emirates – Jen’s Back

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz_qZQbiZuA

This short but sweet spot from Emirates features the everybody’s favourite underdog, Jennifer Aniston, and it’s clearly paying off for the brand. The ad has attracted around 120,000 shares in just over a week – driven in no small part by Aniston’s starring role. Aside from its star power, the spot is cute and effective in its display of all the trimmings available on Emirates’ fleet.

4. Gusto – So Many Zoes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4olEQvSwx4

This spot from Gusto starring comic Kristen Schaal is fun and light while also being incredibly relevant to its target audience. Gusto produces HR solutions, and the spot sees Schaal turning into various different versions of herself as she receives a stream of benign requests. Her performance is delivered in her trademark chirpy style, and the ad has enough pace that the joke avoids feeling overdone.

3. Oxford – Never Give Up

This impressive ad from Oxford (the notebook people) shows the power of perseverance and hard work in a truly novel way. The spot stars a robot (or at least, an admirable robot costume) that longs to be able to high-five and fist-bump its way through high school – but struggles due to its mechanical limbs. It’s charming, is shot well, and features an up-tempo soundtrack that keeps the story moving in a way that makes it hard to stop watching.

2. The Times and The Sunday Times – Cut Through The Noise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WcvbmkkN4w

This short and succinct ad from The Times and The Sunday Times is an impressively restrained piece of content that communicates its central message in a truly memorable way. Almost entirely devoid of sound, the ad highlights some of 2016’s biggest issues and challenges viewers to reevaluate where their attention is drawn and for what reasons – whilst also suggesting that the publications are a step above their competition.

1. Bose – QuietComfort 35 Headphones: Get Closer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjNt_8qeLD8

This striking and absorbing ad from Bose is close to being a perfect marriage of imagery and sound. The sweeping shots of a deserted London, the elegant freestyle of dancer Maeva Berthelot and a truly fitting song come together to create an audio-visual treat that also manages to land a sharp punchline.