Best and Worst Ads of 2008

I don't normally make a habit of patronizing the New York Times, but I came across this article discussing some of the Best and Words ads of 2008 and I thought it was interesting analysis.

Best and Worst Ads: A Year the News Eclipsed Commercial Breaks

Naturally it carries a plug for Obama (it's the NYT, what do you expect?). But the rest of the material is worth the sigh-scrolldown-ok experience.

Having just finished my top-20 list of favorite discovered music of 08, I am tempted to put together a personal favorites list of commercials, but frankly, I just can't think of any that stand out. There's yet another mobile phone carrier TV spot that pisses me off that I just discovered lately ("Yeah, idiot dad, you can call that woman you keep staring at at my soccer games!"). I like the Acura and Lincoln spots that are running these days. And there was another commercial I'd seen in the past few months that had me cracking up, running it back to watch it a few times, but now I can't remember what it is.

This one has got to be one of my all-time favorites: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgtfC5LBAW4. From Super Bowl 08.

Favorite Songs of 2008

This is my playlist of personal favorite songs I discovered in 2008. Not necessarily released in 08, just that I happened to acquire them and enjoy them. My new music isn't influenced by The Music Industry very much, so a lot of times I don't discover new music until several months or even years after it's peaked in popularity. The playlist is in order starting at the #1 best and working down. Enjoy.

The "umbrella" ad

This morning I was given an example of an ad generally used as an "umbrella" ad .. one meant to show the breadth of MFA's services and products, as well as serve as a recruiting tool. My boss asked me to work on a new design direction for the ad .. needed to be highly multipurpose, to work for a variety of audiences. This is what I came up with. I think it turned out rather well .. the three figures are actually standing in an onion field. Since onions wasn't appropriate for Missouri, I "put" them in a wheat field instead.



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