By E. Mahony – spotlightideas.co.uk

Some of the best TV ads of the last 25 years from Cabdury’s Eyebrows, 2009, to Smash Martians, 1974.

• Cadbury’s – Eyebrows. 2009. Two children, moving eyebrows, and a balloon (with music ‘Don’t Stop the Rock’ by Freestyle). Fallon, London. Watch on YouTube
• Audi Q5 ‘Unbox the Box’. 2009. A two-dimensional character within a cardboard box turns the box into a car. BBH. YouTube
• Anchor – Great Escape. 2009. Based on the last scene in The Great Escape, this animation sees a cow playing the role of Steve McQueen .. CHI & Partners. YouTube
• Drench – Brains. 2008. Thunderbird character dances to Snap’s very unThunderbirdish “Rhythm is a Dancer”. CHI & Partners. YouTube
  
• Cadbury’s Trucks. 2008. Baggage-handling trucks racing on a runway. Fallon, London. YouTube
  
• Nike – Take it to the next level. 2008. The ad follows the career of a footballer from obscure beginnings to success. Directed by Guy Rictchie. 72 and Sunny ad agency. YouTube
  
• Cadbury’s – Gorilla. 2007. A gorilla on the drums suddenly blasts into Phil Collins’ ‘In the air tonight’. Fallon, London. YouTube
  
• Sony Bravia – Bunnies (Play-doh). 2007. Hundreds of play-doh bunnies run along streets in New York. Fallon, London. YouTube
  
• Skoda Cake. 2007. The ad follows the making of a cake (in the shape of a car) to music from The Sound of Music. Fallon, London. YouTube
  
• Audi Ryhtym of Lines. 2007. Ribbons of lines form into the shape of a car. BBH. YouTube
  
• Sony Bravia – Paint. 2006. High-rise housing blocks splashed from top to bottom in paint. Fallon, London. YouTube
  
• Citroen – Transformers. 2006. A car turns into a robot and skates on ice. RSCG, London. YouTube
  
• Coca Cola Happiness Factory. 2006. Fantasy animation of a Coca Cola bottle being produced in a factory. Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam. Youtube
  
• O2 Bubbles. 2006. Bubbles blowing through a city with various slick effects. Vallance Carruthers Coleman Priest. Youtube
• Sony Bravia – Balls. 2005. Thousands of balls bouncing along the streets of San Francisco to the music ‘Heartbeats’ by Jose Gonzalez. Fallon, London. YouTube
  
• Guinness – The Rhythm of Time Evolution. 2005. Evolution of man shown in reverse order: three men drinking in pub to primitive life. AMV BBDO, London. YouTube
• iPod – Shuffle. 2005. Black silhouettes of people dancing against a strong, green background. YouTube
  
• Honda Accord. 2003. A chain of near-impossible mechanical-like events. Wieden + Kennedy. YouTube
• Unison Bear. 2003. Single big bear is no match for a cohort of ants. YouTube
• Carlsberg – Nightclub. 2002. The perfect nightclub experience. Owens DDB Dublin. YouTube
• John West Salmon – Man Fighting Bear. 2000. Man and bear fight over a salmon. Leo Burnett. YouTube
  
• Budget Rent a Car ‘Jet Propulsion’. 2000. Man on jet propeller out of control. Cliff Freeman & Partners ad agency. YouTube
  
• Guinness – Surfer. 1999. Surfers, tick-follow-tock, big wave, and wild-eyed horses .. AMV BBDO, London. YouTube
• Guinness – Swimmer. 1998. A retired man has to swim across a harbour within the time it takes for a pint of Guinness to be poured. AMV BBDO. YouTube
• Reebok – Slow Rain. 1997. Slow motion of rain and basketball in black-and-white. YouTube
• Tabasco ‘Mosquito‘. 1997. This tabasco is so hot it can fry a mosquito. DDB Needham ad agency. YouTube
  
• Boddington’s – Melanie, Sykes Icecream. 1996. Runner in a desert served a pint of beer with a flake in it. BBH. YouTube
• Budweiser – Frogs. 1995. Group of frogs croak ‘Bud’, ‘Weis’, and ‘Er’. Goodby, Silverstein and Partners. YouTube
• Guinness – Dancing Man. 1994. Man dances around a glass of Guinness as he waits for it to be poured. Arks ad agency. YouTube
• Heat Electric – Creature Comforts. 1991. Plasticine animals share their everyday thoughts and concerns to  mike and camera. Animated by Nick Park (of Wallace and Grommit). YouTube
  
• Stella Artois Flower Seller. 1991. Going to cost the flower seller a lot of flowers for a pint of Stella. Based on the film Jean de Florette. Lowe. YouTube
  
• Audi – Vorsprung durch technik. Good ad. Great strapline ‘Vorsprung durch technik.’ YouTube
• Kit Kat – Pandas. 1989. Photographer takes a break from his camera and misses the perfect shot. JWT, London. YouTube
• ‘Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet’ – Baldy Man. 1989. The camera in the photobooth is intent on photographing the top of the man’s head. Collett Dickenson Pearce ad agency. YouTube
  
• British Airways – Face. 1999. Choreographers come together to create a giant face. Saatchi and Saatchi. YouTube
• Heineken ‘Majorca’. 1985. Reverse of Eliza Doolittle (Pygmalion) as a Sloane Ranger tries to learn cockney. Lowe Howard-Spink. YouTube
  
• Federal Express ‘Fast talker’. 1982. Really fast talking boss. Ally & Gargano. YouTube
  
• Lego – Kipper. 1981. Pieces of Lego turn into animals and objects that try to dominate each other. TBWA, London. YouTube
• Kio Ora. Cartoon crow characters with catchy music. YouTube
  
• Smash Martians. 1974. Martians laugh at human beings’ primitive skills in potato-cooking. BMP DDB  ad agency. YouTube

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