Method

documentary

38 articles

Advertising Is for People / L'ORÉAL PARIS "THE FINAL COPY OF ILON SPECHT"
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L’OREAL | THE FINAL COPY OF ILON SPECHT | 2025

Advertising Is for People / L'ORÉAL PARIS "THE FINAL COPY OF ILON SPECHT"

A 17-minute documentary that changes a life. Or, to be precise, it's an experience of watching a life that already *was* changed, forever. In 1971, a 23-year-old copywriter wrote four words that are still used around the world more than 50 years later. A film recording the words she spoke at the very end of her life just won the Grand Prix in the Film category at Cannes Lions 2025. This is a story about advertising. And it isn't. It's a story about a human being.

What really gets you swimming is everyone cheering you on / Aquarius "NEW YOU Campaign: I Want to Be Able to Swim"
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アクエリアス | NEW YOU キャンペーン 泳げるようになりたい | 2024

What really gets you swimming is everyone cheering you on / Aquarius "NEW YOU Campaign: I Want to Be Able to Swim"

This is a video following a 75-year-old grandmother over 30 days, starting from when she could barely even put her face in the water, as she works toward swimming 25 meters freestyle. It's lovely to see swimmer Kosuke Kitajima coaching her wholeheartedly, showing that age doesn't matter when you want to swim. But what really makes this commercial so moving isn't that part.

I Don't Want to Stay Who I Am for One More Second / The Asahi Broadcasting Corporation "M-1 Grand Prix 2023 × Natsuko Nisshoku 'Logma Rope'"
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朝日放送テレビ | M-1グランプリ2023×日食なつこ「ログマロープ」 | 2024

I Don't Want to Stay Who I Am for One More Second / The Asahi Broadcasting Corporation "M-1 Grand Prix 2023 × Natsuko Nisshoku 'Logma Rope'"

There are manzai comedians who stake their whole lives on four minutes. Playing over the promotional video for M-1 Grand Prix 2023 is Natsuko Nisshoku's "Logma Rope." She couldn't write a song for six months, and this track was born at the end of what felt like hell.

An Ordinary Person's Full Effort Beats a Celebrity's Full Effort / Kirin Nodogoshi Nama "Dream of Dreams: Pro Baseball"
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キリン のどごし〈生〉 | 夢のドリーム プロ野球 | 2014

An Ordinary Person's Full Effort Beats a Celebrity's Full Effort / Kirin Nodogoshi Nama "Dream of Dreams: Pro Baseball"

I cried watching the making-of for the baseball edition. The Jackie Chan edition was fantastic too, but this one really gets me. Watching a celebrity take on something huge is moving, but somehow it's even more moving when ordinary people chase an ordinary—or maybe slightly oversized—dream. I think it's because the people at the center feel so much closer to us.

15,000 People Connected 250km in Just One Day — a Miracle / KYUSHU RAILWAY COMPANY "THE 250KM WAVE(祝!九州)"
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KYUSHU RAILWAY COMPANY | THE 250KM WAVE(祝!九州) | 2011

15,000 People Connected 250km in Just One Day — a Miracle / KYUSHU RAILWAY COMPANY "THE 250KM WAVE(祝!九州)"

On February 20, 2011 (2/20), from the window of a shinkansen running 250km from Kagoshima-Chuo Station to Hakata Station, a wild plan was carried out: film 15,000 people gathered along the route and turn it into a commercial. One shot, no retakes. If it rained, it was over. If no one showed up, it was over. But all that worry was blown away on the day all of Kyushu waved.