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Canal+ | Never underestimate the power of a great story | 2020
A Long Setup, Then a Big Bold Payoff / Canal+ "Never underestimate the power of a great story"
A long, long setup leading to one big, bold payoff — it feels so satisfying.
Year
2009
30 articles
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セキスイハイム | かみさま | 2015
Even God Can't Answer That / Sekisui Heim Tokai "Kamisama"
"When will the Tokai earthquake actually hit... what year, what month, what day! God, please tell us!" It's the kind of question anyone living in the Tokai region has probably wondered about at some point—and this ad turns it into a full-blown comedy sketch. And somehow, the product being sold is houses.
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SANKO（三幸興業株式会社） | 電車は転職できない。 | 2015
But. / SANKO "Trains Can't Change Jobs."
A train that looks like something out of Thomas the Tank Engine is singing. The cute, cozy visuals are soothing on their own, but then one word—"but"—suddenly turns the whole thing bittersweet.
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P&G | Flora | 2009
In a Sea of White Flowers, a Girl Takes Control of Nature / Gucci "Flora"
Chris Cunningham shoots a perfume ad. The man behind the nightmarish music videos for Aphex Twin and Björk takes on Gucci's new fragrance.
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HBO | Big Love Audio Mural Installations (Wall of Secrets) | 2009
Plug headphones into the people on the wall. / HBO "Big Love: Wall of Secrets"
Painted on a city wall, passersby had real headphone jacks embedded right in their heads. Plug in, and you'd hear that one person's own "secret" whispered in your ear.
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NIKE | PAPER BATTLEFIELD | 2009
When a Poster Became a Battlefield / NIKE "PAPER BATTLEFIELD"
This campaign won the Grand Prix in the Design category at Cannes in 2009, and even looking at it now, it's absolutely thrilling. Using silkscreen printing, a technique that goes back to the 10th century, the players themselves made their own posters. That process itself embodied the very essence of competition.
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PASCALL | WHEN WILL THE FRUIT BURST | 2009
When Will It Burst? / PASCALL "WHEN WILL THE FRUIT BURST"
A giant strawberry-shaped balloon slowly, slowly inflates in the middle of the city. Right beside it, a needle stands ready and waiting. Nobody knows when it will burst. The only thing that's certain is that when it does, thousands of fruit candies will rain down on the street.
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YUBARI RESORT | NO MONEY BUT LOVE | 2009
A bankrupt city brought people back with wordplay and honesty / YUBARI RESORT "NO MONEY BUT LOVE"
How do you advertise a city that collapsed under 35 billion yen in debt? Normally, you can't. So this city didn't hide the impossible—it just said it out loud. NO MONEY BUT LOVE. No money, but love.
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サントリーオールド | 娘の相手 | 2009
What a Shame - If He'd Been a Jerk, I Could've Punched Him / Suntory Old "Daughter's Boyfriend"
Jun Kunimura says, "I could've punched him, you know." That one line says everything. Before meeting his daughter's boyfriend, the father quietly leaves the room without saying much. When his daughter follows him out, he mutters that single line - and it's packed with so much deep love, resignation, and quiet approval all at once. I was completely won over.
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GLOBO TV | One Thousand Casmurros | 2009
1,000 People Read One Book / GLOBO TV "One Thousand Casmurros"
Split a book into 1,000 pieces and have 1,000 people read it. Who even comes up with that?
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HAAGEN DAZS | HD loves HB (Honey, Let's Lick the Problem) | 2009
If the Bees Disappear, So Does Ice Cream / HAAGEN DAZS "HD loves HB (Honey, Let's Lick the Problem)"
In 2009, honeybees were mysteriously vanishing across America. The reason Haagen-Dazs got involved was simple: without bees, it couldn't make four out of ten of its flavors.
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BURGER KING | WHOPPER SACRIFICE | 2009
Ten Friends, Burned for a Burger / BURGER KING "WHOPPER SACRIFICE"
Delete ten friends on Facebook and you get a free Whopper. The person you deleted gets a notification saying 'You have chosen a Whopper over your friend.' It was a bomb CP+B dropped in 2009.
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WARNER BROS | WHY SO SERIOUS? | 2009
The 15 Months When Gotham City Became Real / WARNER BROS "WHY SO SERIOUS?"
This is the story of a movie promotion that turned into a city-wide game lasting 15 months. From 2007 to 2008, fans around the world became "residents of Gotham City," solving puzzles, making phone calls, and picking up cakes.
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ユニクロ | UNIQLO LUCKY SWITCH | 2009
Hijacking Other People's Websites to Turn Them Into a Lottery / UNIQLO "UNIQLO LUCKY SWITCH"
In 2009, the method UNIQLO chose to promote its year-end sale was a bold piece of advertising that took over other people's blogs and turned them into a lottery venue without asking.
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NHK | COTO-TAMA | 2009
Words turn into little rolling balls / NHK "COTO-TAMA"
Just the title, COTO-TAMA, already hints at some kind of wordplay. This is a 2009 piece for NHK made by Hakuhodo. It's about little clusters of words rolling across a computer desktop, eventually making their way onto the wall of a building at a live event.
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THE TIMES OF INDIA | A Day in the Life of Chennai | 2009
A cardboard cutout goes from movie star to politician. In the end, only the crows remain / THE TIMES OF INDIA "A Day in the Life of Chennai"
A life-size cardboard cutout is born in the morning and dead by night. In just 90 seconds, you see the true face of the city of Chennai — no wonder it won India's first Film Gold Lion at Cannes.
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HYUNDAI | ASSURANCE | 2009
"You can give the car back" became a promise of trust / HYUNDAI "ASSURANCE"
It was 2009, right after the Lehman shock. In a time when nobody was buying cars, Hyundai said something strange: "If you lose your job within a year, you can give this car back." It was a promise nobody in the industry had ever made.
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ソフトバンク | SMAP大移動 | 2009
Even if it takes a whole night to shoot just 60 seconds, there's a reason to film all five in one take / SoftBank "SMAP Grand Migration"
Sixty seconds, almost entirely one continuous shot. Actually, it's so good you can't even figure out why they bothered cutting away for the scene where the Father Dog goes outside. The tension comes through the screen and hits you directly, on top of being overwhelmingly entertaining.
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T MOBILE | Life's for Sharing - Dance | 2009
The Morning 350 People Started Dancing, Commuting Became a Celebration / T-Mobile "Dance"
2009, London's Liverpool Street Station. In the middle of the rush hour crowd, one commuter started dancing. Then another, then another. Before anyone knew it, 350 people were dancing their hearts out to "Shout" in a full-blown celebration.
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AEG | THE WORLD IS NOISY ENOUGH | 2009
The Billboard That Measured the City's Noise / AEG "THE WORLD IS NOISY ENOUGH"
In 2009, a slightly unusual billboard showed up on the streets of London. Advertising AEG's quiet washing machines, this billboard didn't just display an ad—it measured the surrounding noise levels in real time and kept sending that data to a website.
SOYJOY | 低GI | 2009
Yoga is amazing, I thought / SOYJOY "Low GI"
In a SOYJOY commercial from around 2009, a woman doing yoga has such a beautiful body that I just stopped and stared. Instead of "filling that little hungry gap," I think this direction is overwhelmingly better.
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BMW | THE KINETIC SCULPTURE FOR THE BMW MUSEUM | 2009
714 Metal Spheres Turn Chaos Into Order Over Seven Minutes / BMW "THE KINETIC SCULPTURE"
At the entrance of the BMW Museum, 714 metal spheres hang in mid-air. At first it looks like nothing at all. But wait seven minutes, and the shape of a car appears.
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DOMINO’S PIZZA | YOU GOT 30 MINUTES | 2009
The Gift of 30 Minutes / DOMINO'S PIZZA "YOU GOT 30 MINUTES"
Domino's Pizza used to have a guarantee: free pizza if it didn't arrive within 30 minutes. This campaign brought that idea back to life in a completely different form. Not as a guarantee. As a gift.
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WWF | EARTH HOUR | 2009
One hour of darkness became a gateway to changing the world / WWF "EARTH HOUR"
Just turn off the lights for one hour. That's it—and with that simple act, hundreds of millions of people around the world made a statement about climate change. It's a simple but powerful campaign. Earth Hour started in Sydney in 2007, and by 2009 it had grown to an incredible scale.
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Skittles | Touch the Rainbow | 2009
Turns Out TV Can Be Interactive Too / Skittles "Touch the Rainbow"
In 2009, Skittles had viewers press their finger right onto their computer screen. That finger then became part of the video itself — turning into a tightrope, or a boxer's opponent.
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NESTLE | KIT KAT MAIL | 2009
The Day Chocolate Became Mail / NESTLE "KIT KAT MAIL"
Putting a chocolate bar straight into a mailbox. Who would have thought that could happen? But it did — and it became the day that idea won the Grand Prix at Cannes.
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GOBIERNO DE LA CIUDAD | HINDU | 2009
The details stay a mystery, only the gold medal shines / GOBIERNO DE LA CIUDAD "HINDU"
In 2009, the city government of Buenos Aires wanted to say something, and teamed up with TBWA Buenos Aires to put this campaign out into the world. It's called "HINDU," and it won gold. But beyond that, I honestly don't know much else.
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PlayStation | Play Face | 2009
The obvious truth that emotion shows on your face / PlayStation 3 "Play Face"
Emotion shows on your face. That's basically what the word "expression" means, so it's obvious - but this campaign captured that obvious truth head-on. The faces of people playing a game. That's it. But that's everything.
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MARS | STRAUCHANIE SPONSORSHIP | 2009
This Is a Fake Sponsorship / MARS "STRAUCHANIE SPONSORSHIP"
In 2009, MARS launched a sponsorship deal in Australia with a player who didn't actually exist.
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NYC & CO. AND WARNER BROTHERS | Oasis Dig Out Your Soul In The Streets | 2009
Music That Starts on the Street, Not the Radio / NYC & Company + Warner Brothers "Oasis Dig Out Your Soul In The Streets"
In September 2008 (month 9), on the New York subway, a street musician was playing a brand-new Oasis song that hadn't even been released yet.