2006 Adland Roundup: Top Ads of 2006 - Part 1

Go grab a handful of those cookies, candy or popcorn sitting around the office, sit back, relax and enjoy the top spots of 2006. Superadgruntdom is required to view the spots. *Drumroll* Adland, here are some of the ads we wish we did:

Most Cringe-worthy PSA


Montana Meth Project spots were quite scary, especially the eyebrow plucking spot that made our skin crawl.

Best Remix
Addictive TV - Take the Lead remix - (2006) 3:03 (UK)

Props to Addictive TV for their slick and super cool remix for the movie "Take the Lead".

Best Interpretation
Absolut Cut - Honestly / Gay - (2006) :30 (France)

TBWA France creates this great converstation between mother and son and the real meaning behind their words.

Best Thongs
Tip Top Trumpet - Simplifying Summer Undies (2006) 0:30 (New Zealand)

Colenso BBDO, Auckland and James Pilkington of The Sweetshop provide us with a hilarious and yet useful explaination of when thongs stop being thongs and start being underwear.

Best Office Supply
Staples Easy Button- Great Wall (2006) :30 (USA)

Nice to see the Easy Button campaign continue with the with a strong concept that also was virally integrated.

Best Anti-Pimp Campaign

VW GTI Mk V- Unpimp/Catapult (2006) :30 (USA)
VW GTI Mk V- Unpimp/Wrecking Ball (2006) :30 (USA)
VW GTI Mk V- Unpimp/Watchamacallit (2006) :30 (USA)
After the whole Pimp Your ___ trend of past years, CP&B's Unpimp campaign for the VW GTI Mk V was refreshing.

Best Husband/Wife Fight
Toyota Rav4- Happy Together (2006) :30 (New Zealand)

This spot had its share of controversy but conceptually it clearly demonstrated the "want/need" for the product.

Best Discrimintion
Volkswagen Jetta - Changes (2006) 0:60 (UK)

A beautifully shot spot by DDB London that gets the message across that if you drive this car people will think you have more money than you do.

Best Language
Berlitz-German Coastguard (2006) :30 (Norway)

BTS United does a wonderful job creating a comedic spot clearly demonstrating the need for language classes.

Best Television Shopping Spoof
Amnesty International UK- Teleshop/AK47 (2006) Cinema (UK)
Mother did a great tongue-in-cheek spoof of those annoying shopping channels in a fresh way for Amnesty.

Creepiest Mascot Campaign

VW GTI- Fast- Delivery (2006) :30 (USA)
VW GTI- Fast- Problem (2006) :30 (USA)
VW GTI- Fast- Hair (2006) :30 (USA)
VW GTI- Fast- Light (2006) :30 (USA)
The strange fast which was targeting young males to get them to drive faster (what?), was one of the creepiest things to show up on our TV screens this year.

Best Tax Ad
Ufile Dr. Tax software - Mugger - (2006) :30 (Canada)
The year's best tax ad played up the feeling of being ripped off by taxes well, while showing how the product can help.

Best Robots
Nike - Nike Robots - (2006) :30 (USA)

Stunning animation from Tyson Ibele at MAKE for Nike.

Best Sport Enthusaism
Hockey Canada- Hand (2006) :65 (Canada)

Give a hand (come on, I had to!) to DDB Toronto for their superb depiction of what it means to be a hockey fan.

Best Super Bowl Spot
Budweiser-Card Tricks/Wave (2006) :30 (USA)

Fun card tricks and the scale of this spot make it noteworthy.

Best Pregame Super Bowl Spot

Vault-Field (2006) :30 (USA)
Vault-Scarecrow (2006) :30 (USA)
Fantastic demonstration spot by Publicis NY showing the energy boost you get from the product.

Best Boardroom Meeting
FedEx-Staff Reduction (2006) :30 (USA)

As we always expect, here's another great office humor spot from the folks at BBDO for FedEx.

Best World Cup Tie-In
Switzerland Tourism-Football Widows (2006) 0:35 (Switzerland)

Considering the number of brands that attempted to tie-in to the World Cup, this tourism ad did a great job creating a connection with a wink and a smile.

Best Choir
Honda Civic-The Power of Screams(2006) 2:00 (UK)

W+K and Antoine Bardou-Jacquet at Partizan teamed up to create an exceptional spot for Honda.

Best Pun
Durex-Real Estate (2006) :30 (UK)

This Durex spot makes great use of punnage, which you might not see coming.

Best Scream
Manix - Apartment hunting / Screamer (2006) :40 (France)

Clever way to advertise condoms without specifically talking about them.

Best Airline
United Airlines - Dragon (2006) :60 (USA)

Fallon continued to wow us with their beautifully illustrated spots for United.

Best Guardian Angels
VW Polo - Angels day off - (2006) :40 (UK)

Again, DDB London shows off the safety factor of the VW through a creative and interesting concept.

Best Spoofs
This was pretty much a tie. Both these spoofs of wellknown spots were extremely well done. The first place goes to Tango due to the fact that their spoof was even better than the original in terms of concept and relation to the product.
118188 the number - Choir Spoof - (2006) :30 (UK)

The first place goes to Tango due to the fact that their spoof was even better than the original in terms of concept and relation to the product.
Tango - Swansea "balls" homage - (2006) :60 (UK)

Most Jarring Campaign

VW / Volkswagen Jetta - Safe Happens - Movie (2006) :30 (USA)
VW / Volkswagen Jetta - Safe Happens - Like (2006) :30 (USA)
Crispin combined a great endline, "Safe Happens", with a compelling concept, great direction and believeable acting.

Suavest Style
Coca Cola -What goes around - (2006) 1:45 (UK)

Nagi Noda directed this Coke spot by Mother, which is filled to the brim with eye candy. Music featured is Jack White's "Love is the Truth" which was controversial in and of itself.

Best PSA
AIDS Awareness AIDES - Boy Love - (2006) 2:00 (France)

TBWA Paris did it again with a moving story of a young man looking for love in all the wrong places.

Stay tuned and hang tight. Part 2 is coming at ya'll soon!

Head on down to Adland Roundup 2006: Top Ads of 2006 - Part 2