adidas Makes Football More Interesting And Samsung Pokes Fun At Apple (Again): 5 Ads You Should Watch Right Now
adidas gives football an adrenaline shot, Google explores the pyramids and Samsung takes another bite out of Apple. Yep, it’s just another week in AdLand!
So which ads have caught fire on the web over the last seven days? Here are our five picks.
Enjoy!
5. Coca-Cola: The Happiest Thank You
Slightly creepy motivation guides always claim that saying someone’s name in conversation is a sure-fire way to create a connection. Coca-Cola has apparently been boning up on their self-help mantras because its latest spot, ‘The Happiest Thank You’, is all about a well-timed appellation.
Shot in The Philippines, the ad uses hidden cameras to record the relationships of various people with friendly faces working in the service industry. There’s a taxi driver called Bro, a parking attendant called Sis and a security guard named Boss. Of course, these are just nicknames and, when their customers realise they don’t have a clue of their real name, a name-emblazoned bottle of Coke is there to save the day. Collective faith in humanity restored, everyone goes about their business.
4. Samsung: It Doesn’t Take A Genius
I’ve always wondered what the qualifications for working at Apple’s Genius Bar might be. Sure it’s only a tech repair centre, but the name conjures the grandiose. Is it an advanced degree in quantum physics? Or do you need some major journal citations first?
In reality, the primary requirement is probably a healthy dislike of Apple’s competitors. Samsung has not done anything to mend bridges with its latest spot, which finds two would-be Apple store employees getting very excited, then very quickly disappointed, with the brand’s latest phone announcement. The ad, sadly, doesn’t illuminate any more about the private life of the Genius Bar employee, but at least they got the weird white lanyards right. Genuinely, what are those for?
3. Google: Explore the Pyramids of Giza with Google Maps
Google continues to take the sun, sand and general hassle out of world exploration with its latest effort: a full Google Maps-ification of the Pyramids of Giza. Pretty impressive combination: the Pyramids and Google, I hear you say. One is the geographical embodiment of one of the world’s greatest empires, and the other is the Pyramids of Giza.
Featuring some rather snazzy panoramic views of the monuments, you can almost trick yourself into thinking you’re actually a tourist. You can practically smell the sunscreen through your laptop. Google hasn’t yet announced what great sights they’ll be bringing to the public next. Personally, my vote is for the pigeon’s eye view of Nelson’s column.
2. Apple – Perspective
In recent years, Apple has garnered a reputation for dropping the ecstatic, catchy tone of their early marketing in favour of a slower, more ponderous late period. It’s a bit like when a band says their latest album is ‘mature’, just because it doesn’t have any singles. With that in mind, Apple’s ‘Perspective’ is perhaps the zenith of the brand’s serious phase. Or at least I hope so.
A heady mixture of mock-inspirational platitudes and swirling camera movements, the spot deftly uses some clever optical illusions to express some fairly meaningless phrases. It’s basically the definition of style over substance, and it’s hard to say you leave the 3 minute clip with more of a response than “Well, that looked pretty”.
1. adidas: Predator Instinct – The Game
It’s a classic sci-fi trope that future dystopian societies create their own terrifying bloodsports to entertain the masses. Without turning to a tyrannical government, adidas has done the next best thing and given football an adrenaline shot to the heart. And the results are pretty incredible.
Shot in a spot-on imitation of videogame jump-cuts, the spot shows what happened when the brand unleashed Predator Instinct-booted football players on their cyber-punk obstacle course. Also, I neglected to mention that there’s a figure who looks like an evil version of Halo’s Master Chief following them with a laser gun.
Bone-shakingly intense from the off, I can only hope that adidas can convince the Premier League to let them run the tournament for a little bit. Come on guys, just one measly season.
