Smart Clothes & Flying Woes: 5 Ads You Should Watch Right Now
Each week Unruly scours the web looking for the latest and greatest video advertising. Then we pop those videos into one handy list so you can catch up on anything you missed before the weekend!
This week’s selection of ads is certainly a mixed bag, with projects ranging from the serious to the silly- and everything in between. Snapple leads the charge in absurdity with a new series, Thomas Cook has some fun with Grumpy Cat, and Levi’s and Google bringing some futuristic tech to our wardrobes.
Enjoy!
5. New Yorkers Against Gun Violence – Sign Their Yearbook
This sobering video was produced by Swedish agency Volt on behalf of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence and serves as a reminder of those young American people whose lives were tragically cut short by gun crime. The project also has an ‘online yearbook’ which doubles as a petition in favour of more stringent background checks for people purchasing firearms, which will be printed and delivered to the Senate after 30 days.
4. Thomas Cook Airlines – #CatsOnAPlane
Most memes come and go in the blink of an eye, however, one that seemingly refuses to budge is Grumpy Cat. But ever since the ill-fated Christmas movie in 2014, we’ve not heard much from the feline frowner. That is, until now. Thomas Cook Airlines echoes everyone’s favourite four-legged friend in their short ad #CatsOnAPlane, with a pseudo-Grumpy Cat playing the role of Grumpy passenger. The video is short and sweet, and the integration of closed-captions is smart; Unruly’s Future Video Survey found that 80% of people mute video ads.
3. Levi’s & Google – Commuter x Jacquard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ-lcdMfziw
Though this ad from Levi’s and Google is fairly run-of-the-mill, the concept and product are undeniably intriguing. The video shows off technology being developed by the tech giant that incorporates ‘conductive thread’ into the jacket’s cuff, allowing the cyclist to tap his or her wrist to cue an estimated time of arrival from a mobile device to an earpiece—with eyes fixed on the road the whole time.
2. Contours Baby Stroller – Test Ride
Marketing strollers isn’t easy because you can’t ask your customers what they like and dislike. At least, that’s what pram manufacturer Contours is going for in this ad that puts parents in a scaled up replica of its products. The idea, supposedly, is that the parents can feel and express the benefits of Contours’ specially-designed strollers, which all makes for a rather good ad. The comic value of seeing a fully-grown person in a pram doesn’t fade, and the humour is cemented by a straight-faced presenter selling the ridiculous idea to parents.
1. Snapple – Make Time For Snapple
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE8LtpLyFRk
Some of this week’s ads are a little strange, but none of them come close to the masterful absurdity of Snapple‘s ‘Make Time For Snapple’ series. The idea is simple, take the well-known ‘facts’ from Snapple lids (think Penguin bar wrappers) and translate them into human situations. There’s not much more to say that can’t be better explained by the ad itself, except that the advert is successful in part because of its ‘authentic’ feel. Snapple’s pseudo-facts are a long-standing tradition, which makes the ad feel completely in-line with the brand’s identity.
