A Man Gets Shot At By An AK-47 And Ken Block Does His Grease Homage: 5 Ads You Should Watch Right Now

Ed Sheeran walks around, a guy is saved from being shot by his Mercedes and a taxi driver is forced to listen to a couple’s crappy Spotify playlist. 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. O2: Ed Sheeran Priority

O2 and their Priority service gives a fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at Ed Sheeran.

The spot, which accompanies the tease of priority tickets for O2-ready fans, finds Sheeran wandering from home, to studio, to the awaiting embrace of adoring fans, all by walking through some suspiciously-located doors. It’s a bit like ‘The Adjustment Bureau’, if anyone else saw that.

4. Uber: Spotify Your Ride

Uber is the app-based taxi company that’s taken over the US, and is now wending its way to the UK. In the burgeoning brand’s latest partnership, they’ve teamed up with Spotify to provide a seamless music experience.

In the ad, we see a relentlessly-smiley couple prepping for a night out with some banging tunes. Thanks to Spotify syncing, the party resumes as soon as they step inside their Uber.

While its a nifty idea, I just feel for the poor drivers who have completely lost autonomy of their own radios, forced to listen to every strangers’ ‘#PreDrinks’ playlist. I guess I’m just prematurely nostalgic for the days when it was de rigeur for cab drivers to refuse to change the station. Those were the days.

3. Texas Armoring Corporation: This Is What It’s Like To Be Shot At With An AK-47 In A Mercedes-Benz

Have you ever wondered what’s it like to be shot at with an AK-47 in a Mercedes-Benz? Well, thanks to TAC’s self-explanatory spot ‘This Is What It’s Like To Be Shot At With An AK-47 In A Mercedes-Benz’, you’ll be left in the dark no longer.

The American armouring brand put their bulletproof glass to the ultimate test by placing a real, living human inside a car and then pumping it full of lead, ‘Scarface’-style. Unfortunately, the test subject they choose is less emotive than a mannequin, so the drama is a little muted.

Next time, they should get me to be the man in the Mercedes-Benz. I’d scream like a toy-deprived baby and if that doesn’t get a million shares, I don’t know what will.

2. Ford: The All-New Shelby GT350 Mustang

Now to the wonderful world of automobiles, where the adjectives are hyperbolic and gun-metal grey is the only colour that matters.

Updating Carroll Shelby’s dream of the ultimate muscle car, Ford’s spot is one long psyche-up, with talking heads explaining just how tremendous the car will be when it finally arrives. One particularly bizarre moment comes when one engineer describes the sound of the engine as “delicious”, but it’s quickly glossed over by a CGI simulation surging around an imaginary warehouse.

While all this hypothetical driving lacks the heft of Ken Block, the video’s nearly 20,000 shares indicates quite a few people care about the ol’ Mustang.

1. Hoonigan: Ken Block’s Gymkhana 7

In the midst of all this present-hunting and pre-festive cheer, I think we’ve all forgotten what really matters in life. That’s right, it’s the latest Gymkhana video from everyone’s favourite YouTube sensation and car-wielding maniac Ken Block.

Working under the aegis of Ford and racing team Hoonigan, Block’s latest shenanigans find him in a customised 1965 Ford Mustang, tearing up the streets of Los Angeles. Even more than usual with Ken, the LA setting makes affairs feel doubly cinematic, particularly when he drives through that weird, dry riverbed from ‘Terminator 2’ (or is it Grease?).

With each instalment receiving strong share rates from Block’s keen audience, I wouldn’t be surprised if Gymkhana becomes the longest-running series in viral ad history. The Sopranos of driving really fast around corners, if you will.