Chainsaws & Minotaurs: 5 Ads You Should Watch Right Now

2017 is in full swing – and so is Adland! As the new year campaigns begin to roll out, Unruly is here to share our weekly selection of the best 5 ads you can watch right now.

This week’s list features an ad telling you to get up and go, an ad telling you to put your feet up – and a man with a chicken on his head.

Elsewhere on the list you’ll find an enigmatic Mitsubishi ad created by Golley Slate – a Cardiff-based agency which has worked with the brand for 17 years – which might be the first truly cinematic ad of the year.

We’ve also got a moving ad from non-profit Doctors of the World which aims to shed a different light on the ongoing conflict in Syria.

Anyway, without further ado, enjoy!

5. Fiverr – It’s Time To Get Sh*t Done

This funny ad from freelance marketplace Fiverr lampoons tech and entrepreneurship clichés with precision, advising business founders to move past ‘big ideas’ and start doing. Even if you’re not the brand’s target audience, there are definitely tropes that anyone working in or around start-ups will recognise. There’s also sound advice that early stage entrepreneurs will be all too familiar with, including the classic ‘pitch to everyone you know’ adage.

4. Tylenol – Headache-Chicken

Japan has a well-earned reputation for producing some of the world’s most random videos – and this hilarious spot from Tylenol definitely fits into that category. It positions annoying work headaches as chickens that slowly grow on the heads of their hosts, getting bigger and bigger as the day goes on. It’s super memorable, and impressive considering humour often struggles to cross-national boundaries.

3. HomeAway – Get HomeAway from it all

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G19cDebTd2s

Parks and Recreation star and all-around curmudgeon, Nick Offerman, has made a number of silent appearances in ads over the years – but shows a more chatty side in this spot from Airbnb competitor HomeAway. The ad is a classic escapist fantasy, with Offerman offering poetic solutions to the problems of modern life (including literally catapulting your laptop away – which we doubt HomeAway recommends).

2. Mitsubishi – The Leader

This artistic ad from Mitsubishi uses striking imagery of beasts from classical mythology to hammer home the message that the new Mitsubishi Outlander is the leader when it comes to ‘hybrids’. The ad’s cinematography and special effects are notably impressive, especially the Medusa and Minotaur scenes, and succeed in creating a moody and dramatic atmosphere.

1. Doctors of the World – Project Syria: Not Like Us

This powerful PSA campaign from Doctors of the World aims to undo the damage of xenophobic rhetoric by giving audiences a glimpse into the lives of Syrian people. It’s an incredible spot aiming at raising awareness. Definitely worth a watch.