Every week I attempt to share a curated list of best new creative ads. This week too Super Bowl ads dominate the collection including ads from Anthropic for Claude and Uber Eats.
Claude: AI brand wars
A lot has already been said on social media and about the set of competitive ads released by Claude meant to be aired during the upcoming Super Bowl. By far the sharpest take was this:
Ask a civilian which AI tool they use and you’ll get a blank stare. They’re not wrong to be confused. When every company offers chat, analysis, coding, and image generation on strikingly similar platforms, differentiation becomes impossible. There are too many billion-dollar players, bleeding too much mega-money, for that genericism to be sustainable.
As soon as the ads went viral on X, Sam Altman wrote a long post (sure indication of the ads hurting competition) giving an explanation on why the Claude ads are anchored on the premise. His defence: ChatGPT will not use ads the way it is depicted in the ads for Claude. Sure, but this is advertising. Exaggeration works. People don’t care if ads are ‘presented’ differently in AI tools and not as depicted in the ad. The single-minded point about other AI tools carrying ads while Claude won’t, is driven home effectively.
Agency: Mother
The campaign reminded me of the classic ‘Mac vs PC’ campaign where Apple ruthlessly made fun of Windows. In his article, Mark Ritson commented that the ads are weak on branding (‘The branding arrives in the final three seconds. That’s not good enough in an era where we need seven distinctive assets to make sure the consumer knows who is advertising‘). I would agree partially: while there are no distinct brand assets in use, taking forward the consumer-facing interface of Claude, the ads are being referred to as ‘Claude’ and not misappropriated to any other brand. The mocking of the typical tone of voice of AI responses and the acting, especially when the penny drops add the laugh-out-loud humour.
Waitrose: The Gastronaut
‘Going to great lengths‘ is a perennial favourite theme of food & beverages brands in their advertising. It is usually manifested as going to any length to ‘acquire’ a brand or not to share it. Many popular ads of Pepsi are based on that concept. It stands to reason, as ‘taste’ is something that we all crave for. But even within food, there is a hierarchy. We bucket some food (usually a simple dish ) as ‘comfort food’ – the one we turn to for solace, as it were. But home food is on a plane higher than that. It can trigger a craving far stronger than one which is merely taste-driven. Home food combines all that we associate with the goodness, positive memories and familiarity of home. A new ad for Waitrose is anchored on this thought:
The Gastronaut is built on a simple truth: food is never just fuel. It’s memory. It’s comfort.
Loved the exaggerated humour, the choice of track and the outdoor execution, done in movie poster style.
Agency: Wonderhood Studios
Whitefish Credit Union: New to Missoula
A certain ‘Ryan’ put up billboards inviting fishing friends, were seen in Missoula, Montana. Turns out they were put up by Whitefish Credit Union who were opening a branch in town. Ryan was a real person and that helped the bank to make new connections and sign up new customers. Via.
Loel: Product Descriptions
Creativity in advertising is not just about pretty ads or funny TV commercials. And good copywriting is not just about writing clever headlines. Even what is usually considered ‘boring’ can be made fun. Here are a set of product descriptions for a jewellery brand in the UK. Pure gold. Wish all D2C brands take every customer touch point this seriously.
Check this for a bracelet: I think of this bracelet as the Romeo and Juliet of jewellery. Like the two young lovers drawn together despite their differences, two unique styles come together to form something special. Their fates intertwined to create the greatest love story/piece of wrist candy. Except in this metaphor Romeo doesn’t mistakenly think Juliet is dead and, heartbroken, poison himself. And in turn Juliet doesn’t awaken to find Romeo dead and take her own life with his dagger. Actually, it’s nothing like Romeo and Juliet really. It’s just two different styles of link that interlink to link links beautifully – now that’s Shakespearean.
Source: Vikki Ross
St. John: accidents
Outdoor to advertise ‘urgent care’ service of St. John. AI can’t replace this.
Uber Eats: hungry for the truth
Tonnes of references to a sport I don’t follow. And lots of Americanisms which I don’t truly ‘get’. But the idea of ‘football is just an excuse to order food‘ is fun.
Agency: Special
Xfinity: Jurassic Park plot twist
What would have happened if in Jurassic Park the power grid did not go off and allowed the characters played by Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum to enjoy the rides and hobnob with the dinosaurs? That’s the outlandish premise (well, it’s Super Bowl time) in a spot for Xfinity. The ‘digital de-aging’ and bringing together of all the original actors fits in with the tenor of Super Bowl ads.
Agency: Goodby Silverstein & Partners
Cadbury Silk: love without AI
This is a like two Unilever brands anchored on ‘opposite’ plans. Ages ago, Dove was about ‘Real Beauty’ and not objectifying women, while they had Axe and Fair & Lovely too in their portfolio whose communications were contra to those values. Now we have Cadbury claiming to ‘destroy’ Valentine’s Day through 5 Star and celebrating it, ‘without AI’ in Silk. Nevertheless, a commendable effort in the age of ‘AI for everything‘.
Agency: Ogilvy
Apollo Tyres: har safar mein dum hai
Montage of pan-India visuals. Back & forth from nostalgia to present time. Use of cricketers and their early days of struggle. All set to stirring music. It’s been done before but this film from Apollo Tyres can still get the Indian cricket fan all teary eyed because all the above ingredients just work.
John West: camouflage
In the advertising & marketing world, John West’s ‘bear fight commercial‘ is considered an all-time classic. It’s voice over delivery style and the story of ‘going to great lengths to get the best ingredients’ makes it an endearing commercial. No wonder it has remained popular after decades. Now, a similar plot featuring bears is doing the round for John West in Australia.
Apple Chinese New Year: glad I met you
For several years now, Apple has created special films to mark the Chinese New Year to showcase the video prowess of the iPhone. Such films have a double barrelled objective of sending a message to the local market as to how important they are while getting consumers to marvel at the output of the camera. It’s another matter that it takes a professional and extra equipment to create a similar output.
Another common ingredient of such films: heartwarming human interest stories, use of craft such as animation and a moving ‘message’. A new film to mark the lunar year has all of these in abundance. Loved it.
Agency: TBWA\Media Arts Lab, Shanghai
Hive: break a leg
The Hive, based in Dubai, was conceived as a space which would be used to spread joy and teach the art of Drama to children. A film promoting the learning of English uses comedy well, dramatising the pitfalls when some phrases are taken literally.
Lava Mobiles: home delivery of service
The convenience of ‘mobile phone service at home’ is brought alive in this hilarious film exaggerating the delays caused by mobile repair shops.
Agency: Moonshot
Hershey’s India: giving kisses
It’s a tough brief: promote ‘Kisses’ in India. In a country where kissing in public is taboo, a new film for Valentine’s Day handles the brief cleverly.
Which one was your favourite? Do comment in.
