AT&T's "Whole New World"

If you like cute stuff or Finding Nemo, you'll love BBDO's latest installment of AT&T's "Rethink Possible" campaign.

This spot (which actually seems like it could be a Pixar movie trailer) features a little fish who discovers some sort of fancy glowing fruit. Unfortunately our little hero is just that - little... and the fruit is thrown, dragged, snatched, and yanked by bigger and scarier sea creatures who each want it for themselves. Suddenly it lands right in our little main character's arms (or fins if you will) and when you finally think he's won it for good - you're wrong. A fish 10 times his size appears and shoots him up through the water to the surface. It's here, however, that our little guy discovers trees just full of those weird little fruits.

The characters, art direction, and soundtrack of this commercial are great, but I fear the message may get a little lost in the overall concept. "Expand your world," the ad says. Will it sell AT&T a bunch of contracts? Probably not.. but it's a pretty little piece of art.

Tropicana's "Arctic Sun"

This ad is nothing less than adorable. BBDO Toronto made this spot for Tropicana, featuring the Canadian Arctic on its 31st straight day of darkness. As people go about their business, missing the sunlight, Tropicana pitches up a fake sun. Kids in classrooms perk up to look out the window, and the town gathers around this artificial sun. Smiles are seen, children are dancing, and an awesome song is playing ("The Great Escape" by Patrick Watson) as this town's day is brightened. It's definitely a must-see.

Snickers' "Road Trip"

If you know the ad industry or football at all, then you know about BBDO's Snickers commercial during the Super Bowl a couple of weeks ago featuring Betty White. (If you're still behind on the times, Betty White is playing football with a bunch of young men, being all sassy and such. She eats a Snickers and suddenly becomes a young man, with the headline "You're not you when you're hungry.")

Well this post isn't on that commercial of course, but on the second installment of what may be a big new campaign for Snickers.

In this spot, a few young guys are driving along with Aretha Franklin. But it's not actually Aretha - no, but Jeff - just another one of the boys acting like a "diva" because he's hungry. He eats a Snickers and turns back into the boy... yet suddenly Liza Manelli is in the front passenger seat. Again - "You're not you when you're hungry."

Will this ad get close to 400,000 people begging either Aretha Franklin or Liza Manelli to host Saturday Night Live (like they did to Betty White)? Probably not. But it's an interesting campaign.

Twix "Crooked Face"

Brazilian ads are pretty cool too.

AlmapBBDO came out with a new Twix ad today, which BBDO in the US promptly translated into English. In this new spot, a man with a crooked face (who kind of looks like he's got Bell's Palsy) meets his girlfriend in the library with a Twix and a rose. She runs out, jumps onto his moped, and the two embark on a romantic date, all the while with him eating his Twix. But when his Twix is finished, a bell sounds, and he returns to a wrestling ring, ripping off his shirt to expose his washboard abs in the meantime. My god. But I guess that's not the point. He positions himself back next to his opponent's fist, and finishes receiving a punch. The tagline is "Invent a pause. Open a Twix."

Alright, so the tagline is a little corny, but you have to admit, it's a pretty interesting ad. I kept wondering where the hell it was going. And the song is great - "On the Sunny Side of the Street." Worth a watch.

Guinness "Slide"

So Guinness' new spot is not quite as elaborate as their last one (which can be seen here), but it is still pretty entertaining. BBDO New York has moved from tagline "Bring it to life" to "Fortune favors the bold." And this character sure is bold. In salary negotiations with his boss of less than a week, he's already asking for a raise. But no, that's not all - he also drinks openly on the job. Check out this spot below, where a pint of Guinness makes it all the way from a quaint bar up to a high rise office with just a little push:

Guinness "World"

To start this off: wow.

Guinness' new commercial "World" by agency AMV BBDO which aired for the first time yesterday (November 4, 2009) is quite the production. Though I may only be 21- for as long as I can remember, Guinness' tagline has been "Good things come to those who wait." They have decided finally, however, to scrap this and replace it with "Bring it to life." This new commercial features a group of men bringing a new world to life by providing fish for the ocean, grass for the ground, and so on.

As Guinness explains in their "Behind the Scenes" video, this commercial was filmed in New Zealand, Canada, AND Fiji. They required a rocket scientist for part of the filming and their production crew included the set designer of The Lord of the Rings. They took 3 days to film the underwater scene, and it took 45 women and 6 days to hand-stitch the grass for the grass sequence. There were 3 months of preparation before they could even begin filming in Canada.

While Guinness has yet to release production costs, one can be lead to believe they're quite high! Yet the connection of this world with Guinness beer is a little vague. Either way, it's an amazing commercial and a must-see.