Creative review of the decade.

Advertising Age did it. Adweek did it. Now it's my turn. A humble tip of the hat to my five best advertising ideas/campaigns of the decade. My only gripe is that I had nothing to do with any of them. In fact, I don't even know anyone who knows anyone who had anything to do with them.

The decade started conventionally enough. I, for instance, was playing traditional ad guy at a traditional New York agency. A few days in saw me yucking it up at The Mondrian in Los Angeles, while shooting a typical thirty-second spot for a mainstream multi-national corporation. Who would have wagered that ten years later the best place to see a traditional advertising agency in action wasn't on set, but rather on a retro television drama series on AMC.

Not surprisingly then what inspired, wowed and provoked me to scream out, "fucking cock-suckers, I wish I did that" bared little resemblance to the advertising we once knew. The judging was unanimous. Me, myself and I all agreed that the two most mind-blowing pieces of work were "The Hire" from BMW and "HBO Imagine". Poetically, the former began the decade, the latter ended it. 

BMW Films hit the imagination in 2001 and I would insist sparked the new decade's romance with advertainment - try this scholarly read on the subject. About three years earlier, an under-rated movie, Ronin directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Robert de Niro was released. It featured a brilliant car chase with a black BMW through the streets of Paris. I remember thinking, "this would make a great ad". Clearly, more enlightened souls than me at BMW and Fallon thought, "this is a great vehicle for a new form of advertising, let's do it".

Was the "The Hire" eclipsed as the decade wore on by more even creative forms of branded entertainment? Of course, as it should have been. But because it opened my eyes and probably lots more to the idea of long-form content outside the sixty-second spot, it has to be at the top of my list. Here's to the pioneers. 


 
HBO Imagine debuted in 2009. If BMW Films introduced us to the possibilities of story-telling as  branded entertainment, then HBO Imagine quite brilliantly showed us all where this narrative form can go. Who knew the Rubik's cube could be re-invented as a movie projection device. For a creator, writer and story-teller could there have been a more dreamy brief to work on all decade? Here's to the explorers.

In between, "HBO's Voyeur" tickled the senses. Plus it gave me permission to continue my own penchant for peeping and peeking. No gawking though. HBO were the great innovators of dramatic story-telling on television during the decade with such creations as "Six Feet Under", "Carnival" and "Deadwood". So it should be no surprise that they would be behind the stellar efforts to push the limits of story-telling in advertising too. With the help of BBDO and The Barbarian Group amongst others. Here's to the entertainers.

If the triumph of story-telling was one big idea that flourished during the decade, the entertainment of interactivity was another. Thanks to the unfolding technological revolution at lightening speed, I for one enjoyed buying a new Mac every year, interactivity became a major buzz word. I think we all remember where we were when Web 2.0 was invented.

Time to cue Burger King's "Subservient Chicken". How many hours of worker productivity were lost during those fateful months after April 2004 when the site launched. Mind you, because the chicken refused to do "certain things" that I requested, it's not my favorite favorite. Nonetheless, here's to the innovators.

Finally, in a sense of sweet irony, my final choice doesn't just come from traditional media, but really, really traditional media. Cheers to Bud Light's "Real American Heroes" radio campaign. Up yours Buggles! True, the campaign actually debuted in 1999. And it was later extended into TV. But it truly hit its stride through the decade with gems like "Silent Killer Gas Passer". Here's to the funny ones.

So there it is. With a nod to the passing winds of change, goodbye decade. Fasten your mind belt as we ride through the next ten years.