We’re getting in the spirit of the holidays, and we’re kicking off the festivities with what we think are the three best and three worst holiday commercials of the year. Take a look, decide for yourself, and cast your votes at the bottom of today’s post.
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The Third Worst Ad of the Season: JCPenny
At first, this was on my “good” list. However, while I found the main character to be cute, everyone else is grumpy, frowning, and in the end it appears as if the girl has no friends, which makes me sad. So now this public service announcement-esqe ad is on the “bad” list.
The Third Best Ad of the Season: GameStop
At first, this was on my “worst” list. Then Beth pointed out that I wasn’t part of their target market. Sometimes we miss this fact as we review ads, and we think it’s bad because we can’t identify with them. Now, I think this commercial is spot on.
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The Second Worst Ad of the Season: Sprint
I think this ad is awful. But you can’t totally count on my vote, as I fall asleep every time I try to watch it. Dark, bleak imagery accompanying a “bringing families together” message just doesn’t work for me. And if they didn’t say it at the end, you would never know that was the point of their ad.
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The Second Best Ad of the Season: John Lewis
This ad gave me goosebumps. What a great way to speak to an extremely large target market. It was also interesting enough for me to watch more than once. And don’t get me started on the copy at the close of the ad. Perfect.
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The Worst Ad of the Season: TBWA
From gross to grosser. The first part of this commercial made me wonder what was coming. Then I regretted finding out. I don’t even want to know how they got the dog to be on cue here.
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The Best Ad of the Season: WalMart and Coca-Cola
I couldn’t decide if I liked this better than the John Lewis ad, but decided it was, indeed, better because of its contemporary approach. WalMart has been coming up with some pretty effective advertising as part of their rebranding, and this joining with Coca-Cola (whose influence is blatant here) has produced a very contemporary and relevant message about modern families.
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I really like the claymation ads by Apple. PC Guy vs Mac Guy. Especially when the pc guy knocks the head off the snowman and it lands on top of the rabbit that just announced he was on his way to buy a Mac at the Apple Store.
Long live claymation!
I loved the Wal Mart ad! Finally someone has targeted the blended families, which have become more of the norm, rather than the traditional nuclear family!
I would love to know who the target audience is for watching a dog lick itself. I doubt that even appeals to other dogs. If I heard that in surround sound I’d probably curl up in a fetel position and close my eyes till it went away.