A young man wakes up and, after his sneakers magically roll over onto his feet, steps into a dreamy adventure where he dodges a truck, outruns a bear and even defies gravity to run upside down. Directed by Spike Jonze (Adaptation, Being John Malkovich), the Adidas ad for its new computer-enhanced running shoe, the Adidas_1, is not your average sneaker spot - but then at $250 a pair, it shouldn't be. Backed by an ethereal track composed for the spot by Jonze's brother, Sam Spiegel, a.k.a. Squeak E. Clean, featuring the nearly whispering vocals of Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, "Hello Tomorrow" is an enchanting piece of film that lets viewers experience what the shoe is about - customization - in an imaginative ride, rather than talk at them about it. And the striking music, made available on iTunes last week, is generating high talk value among music and film fans. Like much of Jonze's work, including past ads done with TBWA\Chiat\Day's Chuck McBride (remember Nike's "Y2K"?), it can be watched over and over again.
March's other best spots don't quite match up in scope or style, but manage to entertain and even sometimes inform. Water ads took an interesting turn as Aquafina parodied films to promote its fruit flavored mix, and Dasani used animal stories. Aquafina's funniest is a Dirty Dancing spoof; the male "water" character storms into a dance hall exclaiming, "Nobody puts raspberry in the corner," as the pair mimics Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey's fancy footwork. Dasani takes a more eccentric route with a campaign directed by Wes Anderson (The Life Aquatic) in which humans dressed as animals praise the water. In "Hamster," a woman/rodent, talks about how she does "tons of cardio" as she points to her hamster wheel, noting "I know a little something about bottled water," and Dasani is so "fresh, crisp, they should sell this in an 80-ounce bottle. That would be fierce." This doesn't sound like such a smart sell, but the costumes, sets and oddness of it all keep you watching. Speaking of talking animal/human hybrids, what can I say about Skittles' spot with two "Sheepboys" (human faces on sheep) talking about the candy's new mixes? "How can they blend two things as different as an orange and a mango? It's unbelievable," says one. A farmer shuts them up with a line that heightens the comedy even further: "You two sheepboys, stop that jibber-jabbing!" It's absurdly funny.
Another daring, but not so freaky, duo appears in Wrigley's spot - the Doublemint twins reincarnate. "Whatever happened to simple fun?" ask the girls in retro outfits, as they ride a tandem bike and sing observations about today's world: "Water has caffeine, even news is mean."
If all these surreal sells make you long for a good, old-fashioned product pitch, how about UPS's weatherman, who stands in a downpour, warning viewers to stay home, while the camera zooms in to a UPS truck making a delivery. Who said rain-snow-and-sleet dependability only applies to the U.S. Postal Service? Nicely done.
-Eleftheria Parpis
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