Emotion
329 articles
ADIDAS | BONDED BY BLOOD | 2007
Mixing players' own blood into poster ink. I don't know another case where madness and love blend together this beautifully. Grand Prix in the Promo category at Cannes 2007.
UNICEF | TAP PROJECT | 2007
Esquire magazine challenged the creatives it named to its "Best and Brightest" list to build a brand using just one page of the magazine. What David Droga came up with wasn't an ad at all — it was a mechanism that changed the world.
WWF | EARTH HOUR | 2007
On March 31, 2007, 2.2 million people in Sydney switched off their lights all at once — a way of showing that they were serious about climate change, at a time when skepticism still hung in the air. This single hour of action has since spread around the world, 20 years on.
ソフトバンク | ブラッド・ピット&キャメロン・ディアス シリーズ | 2006
I remember the first time I saw this on TV, I actually said "whoa" out loud. You could feel the sense that SoftBank had bought Vodafone and was coming out swinging at the market, and then boom, there's Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz. It's a commercial that's purely about looking cool, nothing else. And it taught me that sometimes just being cool is enough.
HENKEL | REALITY ADVERTISING | 2005
A monitor, stuck to a wall. That's all this footage showed—and it ran nonstop for 24 hours straight. Brazil, 2005.
VOLVO | LIFE ON BOARD PROJECT | 2005
In 2005, Volvo made a car ad that stopped talking about cars. Just by letting people talk about their lives, it became the first ad ever to win a Titanium Lion at Cannes.
ADIDAS | Impossible is Nothing - The Long Run | 2004
In old footage from 1974, Muhammad Ali is running in Zaire. Beckham and Zidane run alongside him, catching up. Today's athletes are joining footage that should have been long dead.
SAAB | INFINITE DRIVE | 2004
In 2004, back when internet connections were still slow, there was an ad that tried to create a drive that never ends.
VIRGIN | Warren | 2004
In 2004, young Australians fell hard for an "incredibly unappealing, single and desperate" dork. His name was Warren. Speaking straight to camera in dating-video style, he was all confidence and zero charm—and yet somehow, totally unlovable as he was, Warren wormed his way into youth culture and became a legendary character who pushed Virgin Mobile to its highest-ever market ranking.
SK TELECOM | BE THE REDS CAMPAIGN IN 2002 FIFA WORLD CUP | 2003
In 2002, the entire country of South Korea turned red. This ad gave birth to the phrase "Be the Reds," which was printed on T-shirts, worn by 7 million people in the streets, and sparked a historic wave of fan culture that drew in 20% of the population.
BARCLAYS | Fluent in Finance | 2003
In 2003, the British bank Barclays brought in none other than Samuel L. Jackson. The director was Jonathan Glazer, who made "Sexy Beast." With a lineup this impressive, they created a series of commercials about money.
ネスカフェ | 朝のリレー | 2003
There's something striking about the simple fact that "somewhere on this planet, morning is always just beginning." It's obvious when you think about it, but it still catches you off guard - and that small realization, carried by the power of a poem, sweeps the viewer far, far away in an instant.
SPECIAL OLYMPICS | DIFFERENT | 2001
The year was 2001. That year, Special Olympics put forward a single word: "DIFFERENT." This ad went on to win gold.
BUDWEISER | WASSUP | 2000
60 seconds of friends shouting "WHASSUUUP!?" into the phone at each other. When this commercial aired during Monday Night Football in 1999, it somehow turned into a greeting used all over the world.
HORNBY HOBBIES | Beautiful Boy | 1999
London, 1999. Just hearing that John Lennon's "Beautiful Boy" was used in a commercial is enough to make my heart skip a beat. And when that commercial is for Hornby model railways, it hits even harder.
NIKE | SKATEBOARDING | 1998
Skate through the city and a security guard comes running. Try a trick in front of a shop and someone starts yelling. In 1998, that was just normal life for skateboarders. Nike's response was a single question: "What if other athletes got treated the same way?"
COURTYARD BY MARRIOTT | Never Underestimate the Importance of a Good Night's Rest | 1998
Ever had the most embarrassing moment of your life because you didn't get enough sleep? In 1998, Courtyard zeroed right in on that.
Apple | Think Different | 1997
In 1997, Jobs returned to an Apple that was on the brink of bankruptcy, and what he put out into the world wasn't a new product or a discount—it was just two words. "Here's to the crazy ones"—this 60-second tribute to crazy people became more than an ad; it became a declaration.
EPSON | LE LANCEUR DE COUTEAUX | 1996
1996, France. A blindfolded man throws knives. What guides his hand is absolute trust in EPSON's printer technology.
NIKE | THE WALL | 1995
In 1995, some true legends of soccer history came together for this one. Bebeto, Jorge Campos, Éric Cantona, Paolo Maldini. Back when the internet wasn't nearly as developed as it is now, NIKE and Wieden+Kennedy put out this incredibly lavish film into the world.
JEEP | Snow Covered | 1994
It's 1994, and for 30 seconds something moves through a landscape buried in snow. The vehicle itself never once appears on screen. And yet everyone watching thought, "Ah, that's a Jeep." This is the ad that became the first car commercial ever to win the Grand Prix at Cannes, and even 30 years later, it hasn't lost an ounce of its power.
キューサイ | まずい！もう一杯！ | 1990
In 1990, villain actor Nobuo Yana held up a glass and scrunched up his face. "This tastes awful!" Then: "One more glass!" I was floored that a health food commercial would actually do this.
LOCTITE | ROCKING CHAIR | 1990
Chile, 1990. A LOCTITE glue commercial starring a rocking chair. The only thing we know for sure is that it won Gold.
US HEALTHCARE | STAGES OF LIFE | 1988
This film won Gold in 1988, a time when healthcare advertising was still expected to stay understated. Just look at the title: "Stages of Life." The idea is that healthcare is part of every moment of a person's life, from birth to death.
VALISERA | FIRST BRASSIERE | 1987
Brazil, 1987. The title says it all: "FIRST BRASSIERE." An ad that captures the exact moment a girl becomes a woman touches something universal, no matter the era or the country.
AUDI | PROCON 10 | 1987
It was 1987, a time when airbags were still expensive and no one could be totally sure they'd actually work when it mattered. Audi chose a different way to protect lives—not with electronics, but with plain physics.
ソニー | 新世代ウォークマン WM-501 | 1987
Looking at it again, this is a seriously great piece of work. The idea, the direction—everything about it is excellent. But at the same time, it's a little sad to think that even a masterpiece like this had to work in a line about the "EX Amorphous Head."
LEVI | Laundrette | 1986
In 1985, a 60-second spot aired in Britain the day after Christmas, and it turned jeans—once seen as uncool—into something to long for. What Nick Kamen took off wasn't just his clothes, but the heavy baggage of jeans being "your dad's clothes."
JOHN HANCOCK FINANCIAL SERVICES | Real Life, Real Answers | 1986
Cannes, 1986. The moment director Joe Pytka stepped onto the stage, the room erupted in a roar of boos. This ad, which had just won the Grand Prix, wasn't welcomed by the French audience. "This kind of reality doesn't belong in advertising," they seemed to say. But that was exactly the point of this campaign.
OVERSEAS TELEPHONE CALLS | YUGOSLAVIA | 1977
1977. An international phone service in Australia used the voices of immigrants from Yugoslavia, and won the Grand Prix at Cannes.
GUINNESS | BLACK POT | 1976
This Guinness ad won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 1976. It seems to pair two quiet moments: a player sinking the black ball in snooker, and someone slowly drinking down a Guinness. "Slowly putting away the black" — both are about putting away something black, and neither should be rushed.
NOLAN SPA | PARABREZZA | 1975
In 1975, Italian helmet maker NOLAN put out a short film. Its title was "PARABREZZA" — the Italian word for "windshield." A brand that was only three years old at the time used the ad to carve its own roots into the story.
LEVI | WALKING BEHINDS | 1972
1972. The year the Grand Prix at Cannes Lions went to a Levi's ad that showed nothing but people walking away from the camera. The title says it all: "WALKING BEHINDS." Walking figures, seen from behind. The fact that someone had this bold a point of view over 50 years ago is amazing.
THE SEVEN-UP COMPANY | UN STORY | 1972
A 1972 TV commercial for 7-Up, titled "UN STORY." Back then, psychedelic billboards lined America's highways, and "Uncola" had become a catchphrase among young people.
UNITED CALIFORNIA BANK | NICK | 1971
It's 1971. Back when banks were still stiff, buttoned-up institutions, this California bank put out a commercial like this one.
JOHN HARVEY & SONS | TASTER | 1971
A sherry commercial made in 1971 by CDP, the agency that defined the golden age of British advertising. It won gold, but the details behind it are lost somewhere on the other side of time.
VOLVO | NOW, THAT'S HARDTOP | 1971
This is an ad from 1971 where Volvo talks about hardtops. Back then, in the American market, Volvo—having come all the way from Sweden—was in the middle of building its reputation as a maker of tough, sturdy cars.
LUSTUCRU | LA PREUVE PAR L'OEUF | 1964
France, 1964. The pasta brand LUSTUCRU released an ad titled "Proof by the egg." Instead of just saying their pasta used fresh eggs, they set out to show it honestly, and with humor, through film.
CHEVROLET | TRUCK EGG TEST | 1963
In 1963, Chevrolet won the Grand Prix at Cannes. Their fourth win in five years. They hung eggs from a truck, drove it over rough roads, and the eggs didn't break. That was the whole ad.
UNITED BREWERS ASSOCIATION | WHO SAYS BEER IS A MAN'S BEVERAGE? | 1962
In 1962, an American beer industry association asked a simple question: "Who says beer is a man's beverage?" Behind that single line, you can sense a real intention to change the times.
CALO PET FOOD CO. | TIRED DOG | 1959
1959. The year advertising history shifted. At Cannes, where movie theater ads had always been the stars, a TV spot won the Grand Prix for the first time ever. The star was a tired dog, the brand was Calo, and the agency was Foote, Cone & Belding Chicago.