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Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2006-07-12, 11:43

Meh. Geico's gecko ads have been funny for years, but the most recent crop is just sorta...meh. I do like how the chair he sits on in the "talk show" ad is a perfect replica of the chairs from Late Night with Conan O'brien, though.

Volkswagen ads are always good. I actually missed all the "un-pimp ze auto!" ones, but the "Birds and Bees" ad for the new Rabbit is awesome.

Speaking of car ads, I actually really liked the ones for the Toyota Yaris. I like how they don't show the actual car, but rather a 3D rendering (remind you of someone?), but the cel-shading works well and perfectly complements the "clean" campaign. On the other side of the small-car spectrum, the Honda Fit has excellent print ads (the one comparing the Fit's spoiler to a mullet is priceless), but I haven't seen any TV ads for it. I'd love to see a TV ad with the same loud, Engrish style.

My least favorite ads? Again with the car companies: Ford. The "Bold Moves" campaign might have worked if their design wasn't so incredibly generic (admittedly, they have some bold designs in the pipeline, so maybe the campaign is just a few years too early). The "Driving American Innovation" ads with Bill Ford serve only to remind me why most CEOs are not actors, and the new ad with Taylor Hicks is just pathetic.

The Lady in the Water promos serve only to make the film look cheesy as hell. I know better than to try and judge an M. Night Shamaylan film by a thirty second TV spot, but other people won't.

And, last but not least, the McDonald's "I'm lovin' it" ads have to go.

But on a more positive note, one of my favorite ads airing right now is the new Cingular RAZR/SLVR ad. Say what you will about the RAZR, but last I checked it's pretty popular, and now it finally has its own distinctive ad, like the iPod. The ad consists of many black, silver, and pink RAZRs and SLVRs making pictures. It's not deep or profound or anything, but neither are dancing silhouettes. I like it.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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