EIGHT BEST ADS OF 2024.
Actual good ads, a rarity this century.
Per usual you will not see most of these ads on any of the MAM (Mainstream Ad Media)’s year-end lists, for two reasons:
They’re lazy and only report on ads that are delivered to their inboxes, whereas I search the four corners of the Internet/Earth every day looking for good ads.
They are hacks who’ve never actually created any award-winning ads, whereas I am not a hack who has actually created many award-winning ads.
BUY A SUBSCRIPTION, here, because I am the unquestionable ad critic authority on Substack. Which, is akin to being the best hockey team in Paraguay, but there it is. And also, because this is my only job, not a hobby. And also, it’s the goddamn giving season.
1. LUIGI MANGIONE/MARIO
Via Hollywood, California. Yep. This is it. The best “ad” (for Mangione & Mario) of 2024. Just in case you’re one of the very few people not living the Ted Kaczynski off the grid life who doesn’t understand the reference: HERE.
2. Andrex Toilet Paper (UK)
OK, no kidding, this is my favorite ad of the year. FIRST OFFICE POO. I watched this spot in awe. Wow. There are still ad creatives/directors out there who fucking respect the goddamn craft. Cheers to you, FCB, London and Biscuit director Andreas Nilsson.
TRIGGER WARNING: The commercial starts with a FART. Even the office dog (Andrex’s long-time mascot) notices. No worries, our hero has her own roll of Andrex. And she shows it to all her co-workers, even the wankers in the conference room.
3. PANADOL (Argentina & UAE)
This is the second best ad of the year, for pain-reliever Panadol.
The concept: Narrated pain through history. The execution: Basically a print ad with a great voiceover-voice and great script. (As George Lois said: the best TV commercials are print ads with minimal movement.)
No people in the spot, just the visual of the aftermath of the painful incident. As someone who hits his head on shit almost daily, often opening wounds, I LOVE this spot. I love how the running water faked me out. I love that, unseen, some man (gotta be a man) is either on the floor in pain or in the bathroom treating his head wound. Brilliant. I also love how the logo comes up at the spot of pain inducement.
Here’s a second excellent ad from the campaign. Ad agencies: Grey Argentina, Grey Dubai. Credits here.
4. LAHORI ZEERA (India)
In at #3, Lahori Zeera is a fizzy drink popular in India. The concept of product obsession is well-trodden, but this is the best execution I’ve seen in awhile.
Several good can’t-stop-drinking scenarios—I like the swimmer—and it ends with the best one. A delightfully entertaining 80 seconds with a fun track. The client probably took about 1.5 seconds of thought before buying it. Ad agency: Enormous Brands.
5. HEINZ (Australia)
OK, this might make it onto others’ lists. It was the best outdoor/print campaign of 2024. This Aussie billboard is damn good, my favorite execution from the effort. Truth: I, too, would lick ketchup off a bald-headed baby’s dome. Shit, I’d try to lick it up from the sand (#MEN). Ad agency: TBWA Australia.
6. iPhone 15 (USA)
This one also might be on year-end list or two. It was the second Apple ad I liked in less than a year. (Here’s the first, from last Summer.) I am , frankly, stunned that I like this spot. This century, Apple’s advertising (through TBWA) has become milquetoast malarkey, blandly trying to please every single Earthly human as they strove to become the first trillion dollar company.
But, shit! Here we got some actual Dark Humor! Loving, patient Uncle tests the battery life of his iPhone to record his not-Karate Kid nephew not even come close to chopping through the wood blocks. My heartstrings, long ago mostly broken, were tugged, slightly.
7. ZIPPO (USA)
Here’s the best 15 second spot of 2024. Cheap, short, simple, no v/o, no music. I’m fucking sold. Ad agency: Ogilvy, NYC.
8. BURGER KING
Best social “ad” of 2024. Posted immediately after the news broke that Mangione was arrested thanks to a tip from a Pennsylvania McDonald’s employee.
The Zippo one remind me of the famous line "Fun anyone?" for Playstation , photo shoot by Stephen Gill with bored to death old couples (TBWA London) :-)