Ads of the Week, Coinbase Lies Edition
Ads from Aviation Gin, Samsung, Google and the Coinbase CEO controversy.
It's time for the ads of the week.
Welcome to The Ad Spot, a Friday rundown of the week's most talked-about ads. Here's what's trending.
15 trending ads this week
Friday, February 25, 2022
🤥 Coinbase - QR Code Backlash (Story of the week)
A bit to unpack here. The Co-founder and CEO behind arguably the best Super Bowl spot this year took to Twitter to explain how his team at Coinbase came up with the ad this week.
He knocked ad agencies, saying they couldn’t do what his team did on their own. Apparently, according to Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, the agencies pitched him “a bunch of standard super bowl ad ideas”. Of course, Mr. Armstrong didn’t mention the ad agency that did create the ad Coinbase ran with (Accenture Active) and the agency (The Martin Agency) that actually came up with the idea. And bad news for him - Kristen Cavallo, CEO of The Martin Agency, wasn’t here for it, and she had the receipts. Hell ya.
Link to the thread is here. I think Armstrong hid Cavallo’s tweets or something, so here’s the important screenshot.
🇺🇸 Aviation Gin - Miracle on Ice (Creative)
Another event-based spot from Aviation Gin and Maximum Effort, be sure to check out our sponsor Forekast to plan your ad campaigns around upcoming events. Plus, a new slogan: Aviation Gin, it’s pretty good. (Maximum Effort)
🚗 Carlotz - Family Traditions (Funny)
A few things about life, laughter, and used cars. This series of four ads were all really funny. Watch all four here, here, here, and here (a few of them start the same, but stick around, they’re different and they’re all great). (Arts & Letters / Richmond)
🕷 Samsung Deutschland - Love Hurts
A spider plus a camera equals a love story for the ages. No Peter Parker in sight. (Publicis Groupe)
🚌 Trainline - Complicated (Funny)
If you live for complicated and expensive, stay clear of the Trainline app. (Mother/London)
📸 Google - HBCU Athlete Photos by Shaniqwa Jarvis
With Google’s “real tone”, the nuances of black and brown skin can finally be photographed right. The photo quality is excellent. (The Robot Company)
💔 Itau - Mattress
Did you buy your ex a gift…that you’re still paying for? Itau wants to cover the costs. (Grey/Argentina)
🍁 lululemon - It’s Go Time
Team Canada rocked the best gear at the Olympics this year, hands down. Here’s a taste of it from lululemon. (Droga5/New York)
🧑💻 Spark - Beyond Binary
A piece of code that can be added to any website to help the internet become more inclusive. (Colenso BBDO/Auckland)
🍎 Apple - Life is But a Dream (Short film)
A short film from Park Chan-wook shot on iPhone. An undertaker who needs wood to build a coffin for the savior of his village digs up an abandoned grave. But while doing so, he accidentally awakens the ghost of an ancient swordsman. Uh oh. Watch this on your lunch break. (Directed by Park Chan-wook)
💥 Gong - Sales Gongs (Funny)
Sorry, what was that? (BarrettSF)
🍕 O2 - The Delivery
Boy, the top floor is getting a lot harder to climb to in these new apartment buildings. You’re gonna need a strong wifi signal. (Serviceplan Bubble and Neverest Hamburg)
📈 TD Ameritrade - Becoming an Investor
Not sure where to start investing? It doesn’t have to be the wolf of Wall Street or bust. (Leo Burnett/Toronto)
🐴 Zoetis Equine - Long Live the Horse (Heartwarming)
Today I learned when horses recognize care and dedication, they return it tenfold. So. I think I want a horse now? (Colle McVoy/Minneapolis)
💻 Dell - I Will Always Be Me (Tear-jerker)
A special book that helps people living with motor neurone disease (MND) keep their voices by reading a story that helps explain what they’re going through. (VMLY&R/New York)
*Today's newsletter was sponsored by Forekast. See what's trending today, tomorrow, next week, and next month at Forekast.com.