- [Jeff] These are the top five ads of 2022
and probably the worst one.
I'm Jeff Beer and this is Fast Company's
Brand Hit or Miss of the week.
(grand music)
♪ It's the most wonderful time of ♪
Advertising.
Welcome one and all to our year-end wrap-up episode
where I try to whittle down
all the best work from the past year
to just a handful of ads,
'cause everyone loves the top five, right?
This is completely subjective, obviously.
But you're not here for partiality.
You're here for hot takes.
Spicy.
I don't know how spicy my picks are,
but what I did try to do
is showcase some of the best work
of this past year that may also shine a light
on where things may be headed.
Well, except for the miss, that is.
My worst ad of 2022 goes to...
Lamborghini.
To mark the launch of the luxury car brand's
new all-terrain super sports car in November,
we got "Beyond The Concrete".
- [Narrator] Concrete yearner.
Tamer of curves.
(engine roaring)
Master of speed.
- [Jeff] Here we have a narrator doing
his best "Honest Trailers" voice,
reading a script that was
either written by drunk AI
or the "Saturday Night Live" writers room.
Are you a concrete yearner?
There's someone snowboarding in the desert.
It's no filth.
This is designed.
This is a Mentos-level ad
for a $300,000 automobile.
What is happening?
Now, to the hits.
At number five,
I've got Supercell's "Clash From The Past",
a short branded-doc made
to celebrate the 10th anniversary
of mobile gaming juggernaut "Clash of Clans".
Created with ad agency Weiden+Kennedy,
"Clash From The Past" imagines a world
where "Clash" came of age in the time
of "Pac-Man" and "Mario",
tracing the game's fictional origin
from three teens in a Finnish basement
into a cultural blockbuster.
And also happens to be completely true
to the brand's personality
and the tone of "Clash" marketing
over the past decade.
Number four is Netflix "Global Rift Takeovers"
which use the Empire State Building,
among other buildings around the globe,
as a canvas for promoting
the fourth season of "Stranger Things".
This was the first time the iconic New York skyscraper
allowed for lights, sound and projection
to be combined into a fully immersive show.
It was also the anchor stunt
that spurred 14 other reality-bending activations
in cities around the world,
including Mumbai's Gateway of India,
Duomo plaza in Milan,
Kuala Lumpur's KL Tower,
and Bondi Beach in Australia.
Fun and ambitious experiential advertising
at its best.
Coming in at number three
is "Toxic Influence" by Dove.
The Unilever-owned brand
released new research in April
from its ongoing self-esteem project,
which found that two out of three American girls
are spending more than an hour
each day on social media.
And 50% of them say idealized beauty content there
causes low self-esteem.
The ad brings together mothers and their teen daughters
to talk about what their scrolling habits involve.
And then the brand shows the dangerous beauty advice
from an unexpected source.
This taps directly into some of
the deepest concerns many parents have
around the potential hazardous effects
of social media on their kids.
And the ad is part of a broader campaign
called "Detox Your Feed"
which includes educational videos
and a confidence kit with a workbook
for parents, caregivers, and mentors
on how to talk with young people
about these issues.
It's compelling work
and builds on Dove's identity
in a way that's helpful and relevant.
Number two is Taco Bell's "Grande Escape"
starring Doja Cat.
Okay, okay, okay.
This one is a bit of a Trojan taco,
in that, yes, the fast-food chain's
Super Bowl ad was great,
but what puts it in the top three
is the broader relationship here
between the brand and the chart-topping artist
over this past year.
Doja Cat tweeted a demand
for the then discontinued Mexican Pizza
back in 2020.
Taco Bell responded and eventually signed her
as an official partner.
All the while, she used her personal platforms,
like TikTok and the Coachella stage,
to hype Mexican Pizza's return.
Part of the Doja-Cat-as-Taco-Bell-spokesperson charm
has been her complete lack of any formality.
The brand leaned into this by scripting her
to leak its Super Bowl spot early.
And in March, she seemingly spoofed an ongoing
and somewhat troubling music industry trend-
a female artist posting about being pressured
by record labels to deliver big metrics
on the platform.
And the brand just rolled with it.
As the pop culture cycle continues to churn
at a breakneck pace,
it's an approach that more brands will have to take
to gain the kind of attention and coverage
Taco Bell has captured with Doja Cat.
Even if it's just for some fucking jingle.
Okay, (deeply exhales)
you made it this far.
We are at the top now.
Plenty of great ads,
including the ones I've already talked about,
could have landed here.
But my pick for the best ad of 2022?
It's Gatorade's "Love means Everything",
celebrating Serena Williams' legacy and career
before she took the court for her last US Open.
It's part career retrospective, part pep talk,
all showing us how her work and success
and how she's navigated it from an early age
has helped inspire so many.
The right ad served up at the right time.
Game, set, match.
I wanted to keep it simple here at the top.
This is classic capital A advertising.
Major brand, major sports legend
tied to a major tournament event.
It doesn't get more broadly commercial than this.
And yet even within those confines,
this was an emotional grand slam
that volleyed around pop culture immediately,
and as soon as it dropped.
An ad fit for a legend.
That's it for this week and for 2022.
Let us know your favorite ads of the year
in the comments.
Thanks for watching.