FEATURE
From an ad that introduced itself with four consonants, to a one-second quiz.
We tend to assume an ad is something you watch, but sometimes it's the ear that reacts before the eye does. The five ads gathered here are arranged according to what their sound is actually there to do. In the first two, the brand name itself becomes the sound. Italy's FRATELLI BRANCA DISTILLERIE uses the crackling "Brrr" of ice breaking in a glass to convey both the name and how to drink it — over ice. Mountain Dew built both a gunshot and an engine roar out of a single word: "DEW." The next two make listeners doubt their own ears. MAXELL held up boards showing lyrics the way they're commonly misheard, and Specsavers aired a misheard-lyrics version of "Never Gonna Give You Up" without ever revealing the brand name. Finally, Budweiser plays just one second of a famous song's opening and asks, "Know it?" The ads span from 1975 to 2025, so they're not arranged in chronological order.
5 articles
FRATELLI BRANCA DISTILLERIE | 1975
"Brrr." Just four letters, and somehow they carry the brand name, how to drink it, and the sensation all at once. This campaign, which began in 1971, is said to have become the most famous piece of onomatopoeia in the history of Italian advertising.
Mountain Dew | 2025
Just by saying "DEW," you can make gunfire, engine roars, explosions — pretty much any sound a game needs. A brand name that doubles as a sound effect? It almost feels too good to be true.
MAXELL | 1990
In 1990, cassette tapes were losing ground fast to CDs. MAXELL and HHCL's answer wasn't to explain sound quality—it was to talk about misheard lyrics.
SPECSAVERS | 2024
They had Rick Astley re-record "Never Gonna Give You Up" with the lyrics deliberately swapped for commonly misheard versions, then released it with no explanation at all. It got 20 million plays in 8 hours. At Cannes it won six Lions and two Grand Prix. It was the first time a PR agency had won the PR Lions Grand Prix on its own.
BUDWEISER | 2025
The very first note is all it takes to know the song. That feeling every music fan has was turned straight into an ad. Budweiser's "ONE SECOND ADS," an ad from Brazil, won the Grand Prix in the Audio & Radio category at Cannes Lions 2025.
Fictional People Started Working
Five people who don't exist — and reality answered back anyway.
Ads That Reached Into the Law
Breaking rules, slipping through loopholes, rewriting statutes — eight ads, ordered by how far they reached.
Alone, You Can't Reach It
An ad that isn't finished until one more person shows up.
What Was Already There Became the Medium
From chalk to banknotes: 11 media nobody had to buy
The Product Is Nowhere to Be Seen
How choosing not to show became the boldest statement of all
Putting 'We're Broke' Right at the Center of the Idea
Six ads that turned a shortfall into the raw material itself