The Bar Has Been Set

The Cannes Lions 2007 winners are out.

Well, they’ve been out for a while, but anyway.

As usual there is some stuff out there that blows my mind, as well as some stuff that makes me just go, ehhh.

If you were to ask me, ads that present a unique product benefit, framed in an insight about our culture, or behavior are the most powerful ads.

Sometimes you see stuff that you think was just rehashed from a comedy club somewhere. It’s a funny observation, or idea, shoved into an ad format.

I don’t why these win awards.

You also see the rehashed strategies from the previous year. If the award went to a cool idea, then why award that same idea for a new execution?

Pssah.

Anyway, here are some of my favourites from this year.

In regards to highlighting a unique product benefit in an insightful way, nothing beats this Burger King ad: English copywriter link

However here are some great ones:

I love this one.



For dropped calls by Cingular. (I have yet to see a concept this parodied on Youtube).



Bahamavention is a brilliant concept.



The Altoid Fruit Pants ad wins for the so-bizarre-it's-good category.



And you've never seen anything like this:



I like ads that hit emotional chords as well. I really like this Nike spot, because it takes something as universally regarded as superficial and cheap as an interruptive advertisement and it marries it with a profound emotion…without crossing over into the realm of cheese through immaculate execution.

By focusing on the pain of defeat, this ad, I feel, has the most emotional, and thus the greatest connection to a brand of all this year’s winners.

There are other things to keep in mind. I have an attention span of four seconds. If it doesn’t engage me in that time, or hold my attention for that long after, I am changing the channel. Also, I’m seeking these ads out. If I don’t want to see them, they won’t work at all. This combines with the whole attention-grabbing-cut-though-the-clutter ideology as well.

Needless to say, this year had a few gems that reminds me why I get such a kick out of this industry, and why I work so hard at something that seems so ridiculous sometimes.