Best Money

« Cramer’s ‘Mad Money’ Recap: Tech, Take a Walk

To see the full “Mad Money” Recap, please click here. Here’s what Jim Cramer had to say about some of the stocks that callers offered up during the “Mad Money Lightning Round” Wednesday evening: “General Motors (GM) is in a holding pattern. It can’t do anything until the numbers start getting better. … had they not lost Jerry York, the Tracinda guy, the stock would have gone to 40. Don’tBuyDon’tBuy.” Hertz Global...

Most Memorable Ads of 2006

February 1, 2007 on 2:51 am | In Money |

Phew! Communications in 2006 was not a total disaster. Far from it. If I had to sum it all up in one simple statement, I would say this was The Year of at Least Trying.

Trying to get away from the clichйs, the dogma, the focus groups, the bad precedents, and the bad addy-ads; of trying to experiment with format, with media, and with brand “elasticity.” Finally, there were signs of consumers being credited with intelligence. Of course there were still lots of bad campaigns; misfired attempts to be “viral,” or bad ads linked to bad multimedia campaigns (in my opinion, a boring cereal ad that directs me to a equally boring Web site droning on about the joys of recapturing childhood is just double-annoying, but there you go).

We’re clearly at an inflection point. I’m not even a traditional ad-guy and I’ve been asked to write this, so what does that say? We’re all firmly in this together—marketers, designers, clients, agencies, researchers, ethnographers, art directors and writers, all being sniped at, out-thought, and remixed by consumers younger than our own kids. Hard as it is to say, in most cases, they’re as good, if not better, at this stuff than we are. Now, together, we must figure out where to go from here. But before we get in to a whole spiral of circle drumming, chest-beating and problem-solving, let’s take a quick tour of some of the highlights of the last year.

But first a warm-up of sorts: Honda’s Impossible Dream spot—which aired in December, 2005, and therefore doesn’t make the official 2006 list—deserves a mention for Not Being Afraid of the Joy of Great Storytelling, for expansive locations, great nostalgic music, excellent casting, and a fantastically simple premise. In it, a guy emerges from his trailer, mounts a scooter, and then seamlessly moves from product to product, stirring emotions, sweeping us along in his wake, and bringing a tear to many an eye. Cascading and Celebrating

A universal truth: We all dream, right? Fab. Right up there with the best Benson & Hedges classic spots of the ’70s and ’80s, where you sat in a cinema and said “How did they do that?” It’s this ability to hit us at gut-level which connects all of these spots, big and small, by appealing to us in new and compelling ways.

Moving into 2006, top grades go to Sony for the Bravia paint cannons, for the sheer delight in blowing million of gallons of paint into the air and making us see that the primal idea of celebrating color can take many forms, proving that the cascading balls of Bravia 1 weren’t a flash in the pan. (By the way, in the Imitation Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery category, check out the Tango spoof with cascading fruit falling on a small Welsh village. More on imitation in a second.)

And lest we assume that hyper-budget is the only way to go, Apple managed to get us all again with two guys on a white background, some twinkly music, great personifications of their products and features, and some genuine empathy for the competition. And again, while spoofing isn’t exactly a new idea (Saturday Night Live was there long ago), the Nintendo Wii spots parodying Apple are fun. Viral Vodka Video

For Bravely Taking Us All Away from Clichй from all that hyper-testosterone Bryan-Adams-ish machismo of car communication, two awards, one to VW for bringing us the best Heidi Klum reference this year via “Auf Wiedersehen Sucka,” with CPB’s funny and great online car configurators, Internet banner-games, and generally getting us to “Unpimp” our autos. Anyone that convinces a client to let them use the phrase “Reprazenting Deutschland” on mainstream TV wins big in my book.

Finally, kudos to Harley Davidson for taking the overused Going Your Own Way and ironically spinning it back on itself with their delightful “Black Sheep” spot, which manages to be delicate even with its Guns & Roses soundtrack.