"No Pressure"
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The 10:10 environmental campaign, aimed at getting individuals to cut their carbon emissions by 10 percent a year starting in 2010, misfired spectacularly with this video from comic screenwriter Richard Curtis and director Dougal Wilson (and featuring a bizarre cameo from Gillian Anderson at the end). The idea was: Anyone who doesn't want to cut their carbon emissions will get blown up, literally, creating a bloody mess. This was depicted perhaps a tad too realistically, as viewers generally howled their disapproval. That reaction eventually prompted an apology from the 10:10 people, but not before they replied brusquely: "We 'killed' five people to make 'No Pressure'—a mere blip compared to the 300,000 real people who now die each year from climate change."
"The Intimate Scent of a Beautiful Woman"
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In America, you can't even say the word vagina on TV. In Germany, things are more lax. You can create a scent called Vulva Original, featuring the actual aroma of its namesake, and advertise it with a commercial showing a dude sniffing the seat of an exercise bike that's just been ridden by a woman. Yes, the ad is NSFW, but it's like a PBS Kids special compared to the gallery of print work on the Web site. Doesn't make a great gift.
"Clown"
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Walmart's "Clown" spot from Publicis & Hal Riney was such a departure from the retail giant's usual image that it bordered on weird self-mockery. It connected something everyone should hate (i.e., Walmart) with something they already hate (i.e., clowns). The setup is innocuous enough, but the guy's scream (after he impales his foot on a plastic unicorn) goes on so long, it becomes uncomfortable—even menacing. The wife reacts nonchalantly, and the chirpy Walmart music tries to lighten the mood. But don't kid yourself—Daddy's got issues. The children were smart to hightail it out of there before the sad clown really loses it.
"The Daily Routine"
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The year's most off-putting visual—a guy rubbing a disembodied scrotum all over his face—was served up in this unbelievable video for the True Clean Towel. It's a real product that features the outline of a body printed on it, so you know which part of the towel you should use to dry your face, and which part you should use to dry your groin—and never the twain shall meet. If you fail to keep track, the ad suggests, you will end up rubbing your genitals all over your face. "Know where your towel has been" is the tagline. "By working our butts off, we have kept costs down," the creators explain on the Web site. Technically, though, they worked their balls off. The Old Spice guy, arbiter of all things male and bathroom, would not approve.
"Gusher for an Eye"
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This 90-second piece of oddvertising—Gerry Graf's swan song at Saatchi & Saatchi—told the tale of Todd, a kid with a squirting blue Fruit Gusher for an eye. His gift/problem is evident from birth, as he immediately douses his mom with a powerful hose of sticky blue goo. Growing up, he turns out to be a crowd favorite, giving friends a quick squirt-on-the-go, and even providing Dad with a surreptitious slurp. The problem will be when he grows up and tries to join the working world. He'll be stunted and shunned, like almost all adult figures in candy commercials. Until then, keep gushing.
