Ads Worth Spreading 2013

It is one of my favorite initiatives.

TED has been working hard to acknowledge TV ads that are "ideas worth spreading." When I hear people say that they hate advertising, I don’t believe them. People hate BAD advertising and, unfortunately, a good bulk of the work that comes out of the advertising industry is mediocre at best, and bad a lot more often than it should be. People love ads that tell a story. People love ads that make them laugh, think, cry, grow and more. Volumes have been written about what it takes to produce a great spot. Volumes have also been written about the abysmal failure and poor reception that TV ads get. Still, when it works… it just works. At this past year’s TED conference, ten choice spots were chosen. They are worthy of your time and attention. And, if they do the job they are supposed to do, who knows you may just become a customer… a loyal one.

TED 2013’s Ads Worth Spreading:

The unifying theme:

In a word: courage. It takes courage to makes TV ads like this. It’s not just the agency and their creative team, either. It’s the brand, the media company and everyone else. It takes courage to do what other don’t expect. It takes courage to create something that may feel vague or uncertain in the experience brief. Yes, it takes great creative to execute these ideas, but before the execution of an ad, comes the courage to do something remarkable.

What ads have inspired you in the past little while?