Ad Nut: World War '3', and more good and bad ads

Ad Nut gathers ads from anywhere in the world and presents the latest collection here from time to time. Because Ad Nut loves you. For more ads, see Campaign Asia's own coverage, follow us on Facebook, and check out our fellow nuts in the US, UK, India, Turkey and Middle East.

Note: Ad Nut usually shows up on Friday but came early this week because we're closed tomorrow for the Labour Day holiday.

 

ABOVE: We'll start off with a stinker from 3 Sweden by INGO and Stink London. This WWI epic is supposed to convince potential business customers to "say goodbye to complicated communication", according to the companies. All Ad nut can say is thank goodness this ad exists, because surely no business people would ever think of such a thing on their own—not without seeing a multimillion-dollar commercial about a war that took place nearly 100 years ago first! Furthermore, the ad does such a great job of explaining why those same business types, having experienced the stunning revelation that complicated communication is bad, would choose 3 over all the other telecom companies that do pretty much the exact same things for pretty much the exact same prices. And it doesn't trivialize the plight of war-torn populations or the cause of the first great war at all to reduce it to a boring love story meant to sell phone contracts. Great work, everyone!

 

ABInBev's Bud Light reacted quickly to apologize for a label that many criticized as perpetuating rape culture, or at least being unforgivably tone deaf to the issue.

RT if you agree @budlight #UpForWhatever campaign should promote responsible - not reckless - drinking. #NoMeansNo pic.twitter.com/EFxwi2nZ4w

— Nita Lowey (@NitaLowey) April 28, 2015

 

Now on to better things. Ad Nut loves this cheeky campaign for the US state of South Dakota. Referencing the Mars One project (the one where people are vying for spots on a one-way trip to the red planet) the campaign asks: Why die on Mars, when you can live in South Dakota, which has abundant oxygen (and jobs)? If you're not up on your US geography or culture, South Dakota is a northern-plains state that's often teased for being cold, barren and lifeless (usually by people who have never been there). So for the state to compare itself to Mars is brilliantly self-aggrandizing.

 

There's a clever clever clever clever clever chameleon in this spot for Volkswagen by DDB Mudra West.

 

Ad Nut's UK colleagues reported on this "poop up" store for disposable cat-litter boxes.

 

Squirrels! Nut-based products! Ad Nut loves everything about this animated spot for Alpro by Belgium-based interactive agency Gents.

 

Nike and W+K Tokyo followed up this recent ad with another evocative work, 'Shadow class'

 

'Report it to stop it', a fittingly discomfiting spot for Transport for London by M&C Saatchi (via Campaign UK). 

 

Ad Nut appreciates the amusing approach here for Nestle's Soothers, by Ogilvy Sydney.

 

Brandy labels 'designed by' a lightning bolt. For Mario Haller Distillate by Leo Burnett Zurich. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

 

In case you missed it because you don't live in Europe: Mercedes rewarded '80s kids everywhere in 2012 with a mini-film starring noon other than Richard Dean Anderson himself. Yup people, MacGuyver is back in a remarkably true-to-the-spirit commercial/mini-film. 

 

That's all for now. Ad Nut will be back soon with more chestnuts.