Cadbury - Screme Egg Last Stand
This may be the advert for the green, Halloween-themed version of the Cadbury Creme Egg but seeing as we’ve just celebrated Easter and I’m sure you’re sick of the sight of these things by now, I’ll get it out of the way first.
This is a quality bit of stop-motion animation that latches onto zombie fanaticism sparked by series like The Walking Dead, then goo’s it up a bit. It’s snappy, catches your attention and keeps the product as the star, great effort.
John Lewis - The Bear and the Hare
John Lewis’ 2013 Christmas advert is a beautiful tale told through hand-drawn, traditional 2D animation. You’re used to the big names on the high street churning out budget-busting Christmas ads clamouring to squeeze the most emotion out of you, well this one was a little ahead of the curve. Allegedly costing 1 million Great British pounds to produce, it’s not hard to see how highly marketing departments value animation to advertise.
O2 for England Rugby - Wear the Rose, Make them Giants
I appreciate the visualisation of support that this advert conveys. The animation of the players communicates scale as they grow really well, whilst still holding on to their relatability. It not only encourages you to use O2 and buy England Rugby merch - it builds the atmosphere and excitement for a national sporting event too.
Chipotle Mexican Grill - A Love Story
Okay so they’re making tacos at the end together which is sweet, but what else does the plot of this ad really have to do with Mexican food? Well, I probably shouldn’t complain too much, it’s very rare to get an ad that has such endearing characters, thoughtful musical direction and high-quality 3D animation.
Coca-Cola - Video Game
Anyone that’s played video games in the last decade will recognise what Coca-Cola’s inspiration for this ad is. For those of you with lives, I’m talking about the Grand Theft Auto series. The somewhat dated 3D animation actually seems to get away with being retro cool now, evoking a certain era of video gaming really well, I think.
De Lijn - It’s Smarter to Travel in Groups
We were talking last week about how much we wanted an A Bug’s Life sequel, well this just stokes the fires even more, my friend. The way that the one conductor ant uses all 4 of his arms to coordinate the other ants is especially great. An amazing example of when animation is used to deliver a representation of what a company can offer in a fun, memorable and attention-grabbing way.
Lyft - June: Life is Better When You Share the Ride
Lyft is Uber’s main competition and pretty big across the pond. In the ride sharing world, one of your messaging priorities is always going to be safety and community. That’s where lonely widow, June comes in.
This ad is a stylish, engaging short film and a proper rollercoaster of emotion, telling the story of how June started using Lyft as a passenger and as a driver, effectively representing both sides of the company’s model. It even features an original song, "Movin," which was written and performed by Sir the Baptist, who launched his music career after making a connection with one of his Lyft passengers!
Loterías y Apuestas del Estado - #Justino
You know what? Nowadays, adverts have way more emotional control over you than they used to. Way more than they have any right to sometimes, he says whilst wiping salty tears from his eyes. Ludovico Einaudi plonking away on the keys here certainly isn’t helping.
This ad for the annual Spanish Christmas lottery has charm by the buckets, showing that animation can get away with pulling the heart strings far more effectively than live action. Don’t get me started on the groan-worthy attempts by banks like Nationwide…
You can see what one of their main aims is with the hashtag title, they want social media attention. Well this ad was partnered with an aggressive social media push which was really successful - they even made a company page and employee accounts for the mannequin factory which actually inspired a huge amount of interaction! Can you imagine something like this working so well on a live action ad? Nah. Animation can provide a human touch that viewers can relate to even better than live action video I know that there are a million animated adverts out there which are great but didn’t get a mention, so jump on our Twitter @fudgeanimation or Facebook.com/fudgeanimation and share some with me! See you next week.
